Label Compliance Check · Kitchen to Plant

A run-through of the federal rules a packaged-food label has to pass — the mandatory elements, nutrient rounding, the Big 9 allergens, and claims you can stand behind — tick each item only when your label actually clears it.

Work this list against a printed proof of your label before it goes to the printer, or before an audit or a retail buyer reviews your packaging. It covers packaged human food under FDA's food-labeling rules; read each item against the label in front of you and tick it only when the label clears it, so the ones you cannot tick become your fix list. This checklist backs up the lesson on the anatomy of a compliant label, which walks each element in turn.

This is the federal FDA baseline — confirm your case at the source

These items cover packaged human food under FDA's food-labeling rules in 21 CFR Part 101. A meat, poultry, or egg product regulated by USDA's FSIS follows a different labeling scheme, and your state can add requirements of its own. Label rules move — Nutrition Facts formats, the Daily Values behind a percent, exemption thresholds — so read the current section at the source before you rely on a number below rather than one you remember. Verified July 2026.

Do this in your operation

The statement of identity is on the front panel, and it is the food's real name. Confirm the principal display panel — the part of the package a shopper sees first — carries the common or usual name of the food, or a plainly descriptive name where there is no common one, in bold type and in lines generally parallel to the base the package rests on (21 CFR 101.3). A fanciful brand name is not a statement of identity: "Nonna's Gold" still needs "marinara sauce" beside it.
Net quantity of contents sits in the bottom 30 percent of the front panel. Confirm the net amount appears as its own line within the bottom 30 percent of the principal display panel, generally parallel to the base, in US customary units — weight for solids, fluid measure for liquids (21 CFR 101.7). If you also print a metric amount, confirm the two agree; some state packaging laws expect the metric figure, so check yours.
Every ingredient is listed by its common name, heaviest first. Confirm the ingredient statement names each ingredient by its common or usual name and lists them in descending order of predominance by weight, with the sub-ingredients of any compound ingredient shown too (21 CFR 101.4). The order follows the weight going into the batch, not how much of each you can see in the finished food.
The label names who stands behind the food, and where. Confirm the label carries the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor (21 CFR 101.5). If the named firm did not make the food, the name is qualified — "Manufactured for" or "Distributed by" — and the address gives at least city, state, and ZIP code, with the street address droppable only when the firm is listed in a current local directory.
A Nutrition Facts panel is present, in the current format. Confirm the label carries a Nutrition Facts panel built to the current format in 21 CFR 101.9 — the one with the enlarged calorie figure, the bold serving size, and added sugars declared. If you claim a small-business or low-volume exemption from the panel, confirm you actually qualify — it turns on your employee count and units sold and requires a notice filed with FDA — rather than assume it.
Calories are rounded to their own increment. Confirm calories are rounded to the nearest 5-calorie increment up to and including 50 calories, and to the nearest 10-calorie increment above 50, with an amount under 5 calories allowed to read as zero (21 CFR 101.9). Perfect lab data rounded to the wrong increment still misbrands the food.
Grams and milligrams follow their own rounding rules — the increment is not the same across nutrients. Confirm the gram amounts (fat, carbohydrate, protein, and the rest) are rounded to the nearest 0.5 gram below 5 grams and to the nearest gram above 5 grams, with under 0.5 gram read as zero; and that sodium reads as zero below 5 milligrams, rounds to the nearest 5 milligrams from 5 to 140, and to the nearest 10 milligrams above 140 (21 CFR 101.9). Rounding is nutrient-specific: applying the calorie rule to sodium is a labeling error even when the analysis is right.
Percent Daily Values are whole numbers, computed against the current Daily Values. Confirm each percent Daily Value is rounded to the nearest whole percent and calculated against the Daily Value the current regulation sets for that nutrient (21 CFR 101.9). A percent carried over from an older panel can be wrong even when the gram amount above it is right.
All nine major allergens are checked against the actual recipe — including sesame. Confirm you have run the finished recipe, its sub-ingredients, and any processing aids against every one of the nine major food allergens: milk, egg, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame, the ninth allergen since January 1, 2023. Counting eight is the old list — sesame has been the ninth for years. Verified July 2026.
Each allergen present is declared by its food-source name. Confirm every major allergen in the food is declared by the name of its source — either in parentheses right after the ingredient in the ingredient list, or in a "Contains" statement placed immediately after or next to that list. This is what the allergen-labeling law requires (FALCPA, section 403(w) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act). An allergen named only by a technical ingredient name, with no source, does not satisfy it: "casein" without "milk" is a gap.
Tree nuts, fish, and Crustacean shellfish name the specific type. Confirm a tree nut is declared by its specific type (almonds, walnuts, pecans), a fish by its species (cod, salmon, bass), and a Crustacean shellfish by its species (crab, shrimp, lobster). The law asks for the specific name, not the category — "tree nuts" or "fish" on its own does not carry the declaration.
Every nutrient content claim meets the FDA definition behind it. For each claim that describes a nutrient level — "low fat", "good source of", "high in", "reduced", "light" — confirm the food meets the criteria FDA sets for that exact term in 21 CFR 101.13 and its subpart D definitions. These are defined terms, not adjectives: "low sodium" has a number behind it, and a food that misses the number cannot wear the words.
A referral statement is present wherever a claim sits next to a high nutrient. Confirm that where a serving carries a nutrient content claim and also passes a disclosure level — 13 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, or 480 milligrams of sodium per serving — the label shows the referral statement "See nutrition information for ___ content" beside the claim (21 CFR 101.13(h)). The claim you are proud of can trigger a disclosure you owe.
Any health claim is one FDA has authorized — you did not write it. Confirm any statement linking the food to a disease or health-related condition — a health claim — is one specifically authorized by FDA regulation in subpart E and used within its conditions (21 CFR 101.14). You cannot compose your own health claim; an unauthorized one misbrands the food. When you cannot tell whether a phrase reads as a health claim, treat it as one and check the source.

Mark this page complete