Guide
Information panel: ingredients, allergens and Nutrition Facts
The information panel is immediately to the right of the principal display panel as the pack sits facing you. That is where FDA expects Nutrition Facts, the ingredients list, the Contains statement, and the name and place of business — unless a small package places them on the PDP together.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
The information panel is immediately to the right of the principal display panel as the pack sits facing you. That is where FDA expects Nutrition Facts, the ingredients list, the Contains statement, and the name and place of business — unless a small package places them on the PDP together.
Where this shows up in a real kitchen
Round jars confuse people. So do pouches with a “back” that is actually a gusset. If you print ingredients on a hang-tag that can fall off, you do not have an information panel. If you print them under a tuck-in flap the customer must destroy, you also have a problem.
The US rule
21 CFR 101.2 defines the information panel. Required information that is not on the PDP goes there, together, without intervening material that is not required. Allergen declarations travel with the ingredients list. Manufacturer name and address belong with this cluster of information.
How to apply it
Map the pack: front, then the panel to its right. Group Nutrition Facts, ingredients, Contains, and business address. Do not insert a story about your farm between ingredients and Contains. If the pack is too small, read the small-package rules rather than shrinking type until it vanishes.
- Stand the pack as a shopper would see it and mark the panel to the right of the front.
- Place Nutrition Facts, ingredients, Contains and address as one block.
- Remove decorative copy from between required lines.
- Check a printed sample, not only a Figma frame at 200% zoom.
Worked example
A 16 oz glass hot-sauce bottle: the front neck label is the PDP with “Habanero hot sauce” and “5 fl oz”. The wrap to the right carries Nutrition Facts, then “Ingredients: habanero, vinegar, salt, garlic.” No major allergens in this recipe — do not paste a generic Contains: soy, wheat from a previous SKU. Business name and Austin, TX address sit under the list.
Checks that belong on this pack
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Ingredients and Contains are adjacent | FALCPA wants Contains immediately after the list. |
| Address is a place a letter could reach | A social handle is not a place of business. |
| No allergen-only sticker on the lid as the sole declaration | A lid sticker that falls off is not the information panel. |
| Small-pack combination is used only when the exemption fits | Crowding is not the same as the small-package rule. |
Putting the ingredients under the bottle, on the base
Customers should not have to turn the pack upside down in a store aisle to find milk. Required information is for the information panel or PDP, not the foot of the jar.
What LabelClear can and cannot print
Draft the ingredients and allergen line first. Then park them on the information panel with Nutrition Facts — the generator will not lay out that panel.
Questions
What if both sides look like the front?
Can QR codes replace the ingredients list?
Does the panel have to be white?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Food Labeling GuideU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- 21 CFR Part 101 — Food labelingeCFR / National Archives
- Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA)U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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