A blank, fillable worksheet that assembles the required elements of a U.S. food label — statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list, the allergen "Contains" statement, nutrition source data with the rounding applied, and a claims checklist — from your own recipe, framed to 21 CFR Part 101.
~30 min
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This is where you build the copy for one product's label before it goes to a designer or a printer — every regulated element assembled from your own recipe and records, in one place, so nothing required is missing and nothing on it is a guess. Fill one out per product and per package size, and reach for it whenever you formulate a new product, reformulate an old one, or change a package.
How to use this template
A food label is a legal document. FDA regulates the required elements in 21 CFR Part 101, and this worksheet walks the six that carry the most risk: the statement of identity, the net quantity of contents, the ingredient list, the allergen declaration, the Nutrition Facts source data, and any claims you print. Fill each section from the source that owns it — your formulation for the ingredient statement and allergens, your lab or nutrition database for the Nutrition Facts, and your substantiation file for every claim — then hand the finished copy to whoever lays out the artwork.
Work top to bottom. The carries the statement of identity and the net quantity; the information panel (usually the back or side) carries the ingredient list, the allergen "Contains" statement, the Nutrition Facts, and the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor. The anatomy of a compliant label lesson maps where each piece goes. Download a blank copy to fill in for your own products.
This worksheet organizes your copy — it is not a label review
Every example value below is an illustration to make the fields legible. Your entries come from your own recipe, your own lab or nutrition analysis, and your own substantiation — never from the samples here. This worksheet helps you assemble complete, accurate copy; it does not replace a review against the current regulation or FDA's Food Labeling Guide, and a mislabeled product is misbranded even when the mistake was honest.
Statement of identity
The tells a shopper what the food is. Under 21 CFR 101.3 it goes on the principal display panel as one of its principal features, in bold type, in a size that relates to the most prominent print on the panel. Use the name a federal standard requires if one exists; otherwise the common or usual name; otherwise an appropriately descriptive term. Your brand name is separate and does not satisfy this.
Field
Example
Your entry
Brand name
Casa Verde
Statement of identity (regulated / common name)
Roasted tomato salsa
Form or style, if part of the name
Medium
Basis for the name (federal standard / common name / descriptive)
Common or usual name
On the principal display panel, bold, prominent? (Y / N)
Y
Net quantity of contents
The net quantity is how much food is in the package, not counting the container. Under 21 CFR 101.7 it sits in the bottom 30% of the principal display panel, as a distinct line. Declare it in U.S. customary units — weight (avoirdupois pound and ounce) for solid, semisolid, or viscous foods, and fluid measure for liquids. Federal law permits a metric equivalent; most states require both under the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation, so declare both.
Field
Example (solid)
Example (liquid)
Your entry
Net quantity, U.S. customary
Net wt 16 oz (1 lb)
Net 12 fl oz
Metric equivalent
454 g
355 mL
Measure basis (weight / fluid measure)
Weight
Fluid measure
In the bottom 30% of the front panel? (Y / N)
Y
Y
Ingredient list
The ingredient list runs on the information panel. Under 21 CFR 101.4, every ingredient appears by its common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight, and a compound ingredient — one made of more than one thing — has its own components shown in parentheses. Build the order from the recipe: weigh each ingredient as it goes into the batch, then sort high to low. The finished statement must read letter-for-letter the same as the line you copy onto the product's spec sheet.
Ingredient (common or usual name)
Amount in batch
% by weight
Rank
Compound? sub-ingredients in ( )
(example) Tomatoes
40 lb
50%
1
(example) Onions
16 lb
20%
2
(example) Jalapeño peppers
8 lb
10%
3
(example) Tomato paste
6 lb
7.5%
4
(tomatoes, citric acid)
(example) Distilled vinegar
4 lb
5%
5
Field
Example
Your entry
Final ingredient statement (descending by weight, as printed)
U.S. law recognizes nine . Sesame is the ninth, added by the FASTER Act and required on labels since January 1, 2023 (21 U.S.C. 321(qq); FDA on the FASTER Act, verified July 2026). For each allergen present as an ingredient, you declare the food source name — the specific tree nut (almond, walnut), the specific fish (cod, salmon), the specific Crustacean shellfish (shrimp, crab), or the plain source (milk, egg, wheat, peanut, soybean, sesame).
Fill one row per allergen. Work from the recipe, and keep this in step with your allergen matrix; the allergens and the Big 9 lesson covers the declaration rules.
Major allergen
Present as an ingredient? (Y / N)
Food source name to declare
Ingredient(s) it comes from
Milk
N
Egg
N
Fish
N
Crustacean shellfish
N
Tree nuts
N
Wheat
N
Peanuts
N
Soybeans
N
Sesame
N
Under FALCPA — 21 U.S.C. 343(w), verified July 2026 — you declare every allergen present one of two ways: a "Contains" statement immediately after or adjacent to the ingredient list, or the food source name in parentheses inside the ingredient list itself. If you print a "Contains" statement, it must name every major allergen in the product, in type no smaller than the ingredient list. Pick one method and build it here.
Field
Example
Your entry
"Contains" statement (names every allergen source)
(example) none — no major allergen is an ingredient
Or: parenthetical sources shown in the ingredient list? (Y / N)
N
Advisory ("may contain" / "made on shared equipment")
Only Crustacean shellfish — crab, lobster, shrimp — is a major food allergen. Molluscan shellfish such as clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops is not one of the nine, so it needs no allergen declaration here, though a customer may still ask you to track it.
Nutrition source data
The Nutrition Facts panel is a graphic your designer builds, but the numbers behind it are yours to source and round. This section captures the source data — the analytical value for each nutrient — and the label value after you apply the nutrient-specific rounding. Get the source values from a lab analysis or a nutrition-database calculation on your finished recipe, and set the serving size from the FDA Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC) for your product category, not by choosing a round number. The nutrition facts and rounding lesson works an example end to end.
Field
Example
Your entry
Serving size (household measure + metric)
2 tbsp (30 g)
Servings per container
About 15
Basis for serving size (RACC for the category)
RACC for salsas
Source of nutrient values (lab / database + reference)
Lab report NF-2026-02
The rounding is nutrient-specific: each nutrient has its own increment, and using the wrong one misbrands the product even when the source data is perfect. Round each value per 21 CFR 101.9(c) (verified July 2026):
Nutrient
Source (analytical) value
Rounding rule per 21 CFR 101.9(c)
Declared value
Calories
Nearest 5 up to and including 50; nearest 10 above 50; under 5 may be 0
Total fat
Nearest 0.5 g below 5 g; nearest 1 g above 5 g; under 0.5 g is 0
Saturated fat
Same as total fat
Trans fat
Same as total fat
Cholesterol
Nearest 5 mg; under 2 mg may be 0
Sodium
Under 5 mg is 0; 5–140 mg to nearest 5 mg; above 140 mg to nearest 10 mg
Total carbohydrate
Nearest 1 g; under 1 g may state "less than 1 gram"
Dietary fiber
Nearest 1 g; under 1 g may state "less than 1 gram"
Total sugars
Nearest 1 g; under 1 g may state "less than 1 gram"
Added sugars
Nearest 1 g; under 1 g may state "less than 1 gram"
Protein
Nearest 1 g; under 1 g may state "less than 1 gram"
Vitamin D, calcium, iron, potassium
Declared as the absolute amount plus %DV; the %DV rounds to nearest 2% up to 10%, nearest 5% from 10–50%, nearest 10% above 50%
Claims checklist
Anything on the label that characterizes a nutrient, a health benefit, or a quality is a claim, and every claim has a rule. Under 21 CFR 101.13, a nutrient content claim — express or implied, like "low sodium" or "good source of fiber" — may only appear if the regulation defines it and your product meets that definition. A "gluten-free" claim requires less than 20 ppm gluten under 21 CFR 101.91 (verified July 2026). List every claim you intend to print and clear each one before it goes on the label. The claims and misbranding traps lesson covers where these go wrong.
Claim as printed
Claim type (nutrient content / health / gluten-free / structure-function / other)
Defined by
Product meets the definition? (Y / N)
Substantiation on file (ref)
Required disclosure present? (Y / N / n/a)
(example) Low sodium
Nutrient content
21 CFR 101.61
n/a
(example) Good source of fiber
Nutrient content
21 CFR 101.54
(example) Gluten-free
Gluten-free
21 CFR 101.91 (< 20 ppm)
Test report
n/a
Making any nutrient content or health claim also pulls in two rules. Full Nutrition Facts labeling becomes required, and a disclosure statement — "See nutrition information for ___ content" — must sit next to the claim when, per the reference serving, the product has more than 13 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, or 480 mg sodium (21 CFR 101.13). Terms like "natural," "healthy," and "no preservatives" carry their own conditions — treat each as a claim to substantiate, and confirm the current rule before you print it.
Sign-off
Number and date every version of a product's label copy so the floor, the designer, and the printer all work from the same one. Re-issue the worksheet whenever a fact on it changes — a reformulation, a new supplier that shifts an allergen, a package size, or a new claim.
