Food Facts DailyFood label facts
How US food labels work, in plain English. These are general rules from the FDA and USDA, each linked to its source. They aren't medical or nutrition advice.
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Ingredients
Ingredients are listed by weight
Ingredients appear in descending order of weight, so the first one listed is the one there's most of.
Source: 21 CFR 101.4(a)
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Ingredients
The "2% or less" line
Ingredients that each make up 2% or less of the product by weight can be grouped at the end after a phrase like "contains 2% or less of", in any order.
Source: 21 CFR 101.4(a)(2)
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Flavors
What "natural flavors" means
An FDA-defined term for flavorings taken from plant or animal sources (such as fruit, vegetables, spices, herbs, meat, seafood, eggs or dairy) whose main job is flavor, not nutrition. The components don't have to be listed one by one.
Source: 21 CFR 101.22(a)(3)
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Nutrition Facts
"0 g" can be rounded down
Trans fat can be shown as 0 g when a serving has less than 0.5 g. Several other nutrients have similar rounding rules.
Source: 21 CFR 101.9(c)
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Nutrition Facts
Serving sizes reflect what people eat
Serving sizes are based on the amounts people customarily eat at one time, not on how much they should eat. The FDA updated many of them in 2016.
Source: 21 CFR 101.12
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Nutrition Facts
Added sugars get their own line
Nutrition Facts labels show "Added sugars" separately from total sugars, in grams and as a percent Daily Value. Sugar can appear in the ingredient list under many names, such as cane sugar, honey or syrups.
Source: FDA
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Allergens
There are 9 major food allergens
Milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame must be declared on packaged foods. Sesame was added on January 1, 2023.
Source: FDA
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Dates
"Best by" is about quality
Except for infant formula, federal law doesn't require date labels. "Best if used by" describes when a product is at its best quality, not when it becomes unsafe.
Source: USDA FSIS
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Recalls
Recalls come in three classes
Class I: using the product could cause serious health problems or death. Class II: problems that are temporary or medically reversible. Class III: unlikely to cause health problems.
Source: FDA
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Claims
"Organic" has three levels
"100% organic" means all organic ingredients. "Organic" means at least 95% (not counting water and salt). "Made with organic ___" means at least 70%.
Source: 7 CFR 205.301
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