[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":188},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fguides\u002Fdo-i-need-a-nutrition-facts-label":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"blurb":6,"body":7,"category":175,"citation":176,"date":177,"description":178,"extension":179,"featured":180,"icon":181,"meta":182,"navigation":180,"path":183,"readingTime":184,"seo":185,"stem":186,"__hash__":187},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fdo-i-need-a-nutrition-facts-label.md","Do I need a Nutrition Facts label to sell my food product?","When labeling is legally required, who qualifies for the small-business exemption, and exactly what has to appear on the package.",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":167},"minimark",[10,19,24,27,49,55,59,62,97,113,118,122,125,157,160,164],[11,12,13,14,18],"p",{},"If you're packaging food to sell to the public — at a shop, at a farmers\nmarket with a shelf-stable product, wholesale to a store, or online —\nthe short answer is almost always ",[15,16,17],"strong",{},"yes",". Federal law requires most\npackaged foods to carry a Nutrition Facts panel, a complete ingredient\nstatement, and an allergen declaration before they can be offered for\nsale. The exemptions are real, but they're narrower than most new\nsellers expect, and a few common assumptions about \"small batch\" or\n\"homemade\" don't actually hold up under the regulation.",[20,21,23],"h2",{"id":22},"when-a-label-is-required","When a label is required",[11,25,26],{},"Any food in a sealed package offered for retail sale generally needs\nfull nutrition labeling under FDA rules (21 CFR 101.9). That covers\njams, sauces, baked goods, snacks, sauces, and spice blends — anything\nsold in a container the customer takes home, regardless of channel.",[28,29,30,37,43],"ul",{},[31,32,33,36],"li",{},[15,34,35],{},"Retail"," (farmers market, your own storefront, a pop-up): if the\nproduct is pre-packaged before the point of sale, it needs a label.\nFood scooped or weighed to order in front of the customer is\ngenerally treated differently — see the note below.",[31,38,39,42],{},[15,40,41],{},"Wholesale"," (selling into a grocery store, co-op, or specialty\nshop): the store's buyer will almost always require a compliant\nlabel before they'll accept the product, independent of whether FDA\nwould otherwise require one for your specific volume.",[31,44,45,48],{},[15,46,47],{},"Online \u002F marketplace"," (your own site, Etsy, Amazon): platforms\nincreasingly require a label image or PDF at listing time, and\ninterstate shipping puts you squarely under federal jurisdiction\nrather than a single state's cottage-food rules.",[50,51,52],"blockquote",{},[11,53,54],{},"Selling the same cookies loose at a bake sale is different from\nselling them in a sealed bag on a shelf. The package is what triggers\nthe labeling requirement — not the recipe, the kitchen, or the size\nof the business.",[20,56,58],{"id":57},"the-small-business-exemption","The small-business exemption",[11,60,61],{},"Some small businesses do qualify for an exemption from the Nutrition\nFacts panel requirement, but it's two distinct, narrow exemptions —\nnot a general \"small batch\" carve-out — and each has its own\nthreshold:",[63,64,65,79],"ol",{},[31,66,67,70,71,74,75,78],{},[15,68,69],{},"Retailer gross-sales exemption"," (21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)): a person\nor business with total annual gross sales of ",[15,72,73],{},"not more than\n$500,000",", or with annual gross sales of food to consumers of\n",[15,76,77],{},"not more than $50,000",", doesn't have to provide nutrition\nlabeling for the foods they sell. No notice to FDA is required to\nclaim this one.",[31,80,81,84,85,88,89,92,93,96],{},[15,82,83],{},"Low-volume product exemption"," (21 CFR 101.9(j)(18)): a product\nsold in fewer than ",[15,86,87],{},"100,000 units"," in the U.S. in a 12-month\nperiod, made by a business with fewer than ",[15,90,91],{},"100 full-time\nequivalent employees",", can be exempted product-by-product — but\nonly if you ",[15,94,95],{},"file an annual notice with FDA"," claiming the\nexemption, with a responsible individual certifying the numbers.",[11,98,99,100,103,104,107,108,112],{},"Both exemptions disappear the instant you make a ",[15,101,102],{},"nutrient content\nclaim"," (like \"low fat\" or \"high fiber\") or a ",[15,105,106],{},"health claim"," on the\npackage — at that point full nutrition labeling is required regardless\nof size. And neither exemption touches the ",[109,110,111],"em",{},"other"," mandatory\ninformation: product name, net quantity of contents, ingredient list,\nallergen declaration, and manufacturer name and address are still\nrequired no matter how small the business is. In practice, most\nsellers who plan to sell beyond a single farmers-market table, or who\nexpect to grow, choose to label from day one rather than track two\nseparate thresholds and refile a notice every year.",[114,115],"guide-cta",{"body":116,"heading":117},"Build a real, FDA-format Nutrition Facts panel free — no card required.","Ready to make your label?",[20,119,121],{"id":120},"what-a-compliant-label-needs","What a compliant label needs",[11,123,124],{},"At minimum, a compliant package carries:",[28,126,127,133,139,145,151],{},[31,128,129,132],{},[15,130,131],{},"Nutrition Facts panel"," in the 2016 format (21 CFR 101.9) — calories,\nserving size based on FDA's reference amounts, and the full nutrient\nlist with %DV.",[31,134,135,138],{},[15,136,137],{},"Ingredient statement",", listed in descending order by weight,\nincluding sub-ingredients of any component ingredient.",[31,140,141,144],{},[15,142,143],{},"Allergen \"Contains\" declaration"," covering the nine major\nallergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat,\nsoybeans, and sesame.",[31,146,147,150],{},[15,148,149],{},"Net quantity of contents"," in both metric and U.S. customary units.",[31,152,153,156],{},[15,154,155],{},"Business name and address"," of the manufacturer, packer, or\ndistributor.",[11,158,159],{},"The Nutrition Facts panel itself is the most regulated piece — its\nfonts, rule weights, and row order are fixed by the CFR, not a design\nchoice — so it's worth generating it from your actual ingredient list\nand serving size rather than approximating one in a design tool.",[20,161,163],{"id":162},"how-to-make-yours","How to make yours",[11,165,166],{},"Start from your ingredient list with real gram weights per serving,\nnot volume measures — nutrition math is done by weight. From there you\nneed the per-ingredient nutrient data (USDA's FoodData Central is the\nstandard free source), a defined serving size, and your declared\nallergens. CompliantLabel's builder does the USDA lookup, the %DV\nmath, and the FDA-format rendering for you, and lets you preview the\nexact label — watermarked — before you ever create an account.",{"title":168,"searchDepth":169,"depth":169,"links":170},"",2,[171,172,173,174],{"id":22,"depth":169,"text":23},{"id":57,"depth":169,"text":58},{"id":120,"depth":169,"text":121},{"id":162,"depth":169,"text":163},"Compliance basics","Reviewed against 21 CFR 101.9","2026-07-21","Who has to carry a Nutrition Facts panel, the real FDA small-business exemption thresholds, and what retail, wholesale, and online sellers each need on the package.","md",true,"file-check",{},"\u002Fguides\u002Fdo-i-need-a-nutrition-facts-label","6 min read",{"title":5,"description":178},"guides\u002Fdo-i-need-a-nutrition-facts-label","V1bH0jVGMpvO53xY3FxFCvXxa_780sDJxkcaQBznO_c",1786054274475]