US food labeling
US food labeling: what a packaged food actually needs
If you sell packaged food in the United States, the pack that leaves your kitchen usually needs a statement of identity, net quantity, an ingredients list in weight order, the nine major allergens named in plain English, the manufacturer’s name and place of business, and — for most retail packages — a Nutrition Facts panel. Restaurant plates and state cottage-food tins change parts of that list. They do not erase allergen names.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
FDA packaged-food labeling is a panel problem, not a slogan problem. Work the pack in this order: name the food on the principal display panel, put the net quantity in the lower band of that panel, list ingredients heaviest to lightest, name every major allergen that is actually in the recipe, add Nutrition Facts unless a written exemption fits, and print a real US place of business. Then stop. Do not invent a Contains line that disagrees with the list. Do not paste a UK Natasha’s Law label onto a granola pouch bound for Shopify US.
This hub is written in American English for US makers. LabelClear itself remains a UK PPDS product — honest about that further down. The sixty pages linked here are FDA- and USDA-sourced guides, not reskins of the UK cluster.
What belongs on the pack
21 CFR Part 101 is the labeling part most specialty-food makers meet first. FDA’s Food Labeling Guide is the walkthrough inspectors still point to. For a typical grocery or mail-order pouch:
| Panel | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Statement of identity | The common name of the food — “maple pecan granola”, not an internal SKU or a vibe. |
| Net quantity | US customary weight or fluid volume in the bottom 30% of the principal display panel. Metric can join it; ounces still lead. |
| Ingredients | Descending order of weight at manufacture. Compound ingredients broken out. Marketing order is misbranding. |
| Major allergens | The nine named in plain English in the list, or in a Contains statement immediately after it. Type matters: pecan, not “nuts”. |
| Nutrition Facts | Current format, honest serving size, added sugars. Cottage-food and small-package rules can shorten or skip this — not the rest. |
| Name and place of business | Manufacturer, packer or distributor, with a street address that can receive mail. A domain name is not 21 CFR 101.5. |
Front-of-pack claims, organic seals, bioengineered disclosure and a USDA inspection legend are extra layers when they apply. They never replace the six rows above.
The nine major allergens
FALCPA (2004) created the original eight. The FASTER Act added sesame as a ninth major allergen, in force 1 January 2023. The US list is not the UK’s 14. Celery, mustard, lupin, molluscs and sulphites are not FALCPA majors. Soy is. Sesame is. Peanuts are never filed under tree nuts.
The nine, in FDA’s grouping
Milk, egg, fish (named by species), Crustacean shellfish (named by species), tree nuts (named by type), peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.
A Contains statement is optional if the list already uses the plain names, and it is the compact way most US pouches do it. It has to agree with the recipe. Precautionary “may contain” language is not a FALCPA requirement and is not a license to skip cleaning, or to hide an ingredient you actually added.
Walk one pack in full on the worked FDA allergen label example— a 12 oz maple pecan granola pouch, panel by panel.
FDA, USDA, cottage food, or restaurant
The first decision is which regime you are in. Getting this wrong is how a ghost kitchen puts a delivery-app screenshot on a Target freezer tray, and how a home baker treats a cottage disclaimer as a FALCPA holiday.
- FDA packaged food — most granola, cookies, salsa, hot sauce, kombucha, nut butter, candy, salad jars. FDA food labeling requirements.
- USDA FSIS — most meat, poultry and processed egg products, including some frozen meals. FDA vs USDA food labeling.
- Restaurant / immediate consumption — plated or handed over to eat now. Allergen information still matters; a grocery panel does not. Packaged food vs restaurant food.
- State cottage food — homemade packs on a statutory list, with a homemade-kitchen disclaimer, sales caps, and often no Nutrition Facts. Allergen names stay. Cottage-food labeling.
If you also sell in the UK, keep two label families. The differences are not cosmetic — they are different allergen lists and different mandatory particulars. US vs UK food labeling.
60 US labeling guides
Each page is a single question with a worked example, a before-you-print table, a mistake, and FDA or USDA sources. They are written for US search terms. Start with the group that matches the pack in your hand.
FDA labeling, panel by panel
Identity, net quantity, ingredients, allergens, Nutrition Facts, and who regulates the pack.
- FDA food labeling requirements for packaged foods
- How to make an FDA food label, panel by panel
- FDA allergen label example: a worked US granola pouch
- Principal display panel: what belongs on the front of a US food pack
- Information panel: ingredients, allergens and Nutrition Facts
- Statement of identity: naming the food on a US label
- Net quantity of contents on FDA food labels
- FDA ingredient list order: descending weight
- Name and place of business on US food labels
- FDA food label font size and prominence
- Packaged food vs restaurant food labeling in the US
- FDA vs USDA food labeling: who has your product
- US vs UK food labeling: the differences that actually matter
- When a US recipe changes, update the FDA label
The nine major allergens
FALCPA, the FASTER Act, Contains statements, and each major named the way FDA expects.
- FALCPA allergen labeling: what the 2004 Act actually requires
- The 9 major food allergens in the United States
- FASTER Act sesame labeling: what changed in 2023
- How to write an FDA “Contains” statement
- “May contain” statements on US food labels
- Milk allergen labeling on US food packs
- Egg allergen labeling on US food packs
- Fish allergen labeling: name the species
- Crustacean shellfish labeling on US packs
- Tree nut allergen labeling: name the nut
- Peanut allergen labeling on US food packs
- Wheat allergen labeling on US food packs
- Soy allergen labeling on US food packs
- Sesame allergen labeling on US food packs
Nutrition Facts and claims
The panel, added sugars, serving sizes, gluten-free, bioengineered disclosure, and when a small pack can skip the box.
- Nutrition Facts label requirements (FDA)
- Added sugars on the US Nutrition Facts panel
- Serving size on FDA Nutrition Facts labels
- Gluten-free labeling of foods (FDA)
- Bioengineered food disclosure (USDA BE label)
- FDA small-package Nutrition Facts exemption
- Cottage-food Nutrition Facts: when US homemade packs can skip the panel
Cottage food, markets, and homemade packs
State homemade rules on top of federal allergen names — not instead of them.
By business and product
Bakeries, meal prep, trucks, coffee shops, sauces, snacks, and the other packs US makers actually print.
- Food labeling for US bakeries
- Food labeling for US meal-prep businesses
- Food labeling for US food trucks
- Food labeling for US coffee shops
- Food labeling for US ghost kitchens
- Food labeling for US subscription boxes
- Food labeling for US frozen meals
- Food labeling for US hot-sauce brands
- How to label hot sauce for FDA retail sale
- Food labeling for US salsa and dips
- Food labeling for US kombucha brands
- Food labeling for granola and cereal in the US
- How to label granola for sale in the US
- Food labeling for US protein bars
- How to label cookies for sale in the US
- How to label brownies for sale in the US
- How to label trail mix for FDA retail sale
- How to label nut butter for FDA retail sale
- How to label candy and confections in the US
- How to label salad jars for US retail sale
What LabelClear can and cannot print
LabelClear helps UK businesses prepare PPDS labels: the name of the food, a full ingredients list, and the UK 14 allergens emphasised. That is useful as a drafting surface for a US ingredients list and for marking major allergen names. It is not an FDA label generator.
Stay honest on the US pack
After you draft ingredients and allergen names, you still add US net quantity, Nutrition Facts, the manufacturer address, cottage disclaimers, bioengineered disclosure and any USDA legend yourself. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the pack that ships.
Questions
Does a UK PPDS label work on a US retail pack?
What are the nine major food allergens in the US?
Do farmers-market cookies need Nutrition Facts?
Is restaurant food labeled the same way?
Who labels meat chili — FDA or USDA?
Can LabelClear print a complete FDA label?
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 allergiesU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA)U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Nutrition labeling requirementsU.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Labeling — FSIS compliance guidanceUSDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
Draft the list. Finish the US panels yourself.
Paste an ingredients list and mark major allergen names. Then add net quantity, Nutrition Facts and your US address — LabelClear does not print those FDA panels.
LabelClear is built for UK PPDS labels. These US pages exist so American makers get FDA-accurate guidance, not a relabelled Natasha’s Law article.