What has to be on a US food label?

Five things. A statement of identity — what the food is. A net quantity of contents. The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor. An ingredient statement in descending order of predominance by weight, per 21 CFR 101.4(a)(1). And, unless exempt, a Nutrition Facts panel per 21 CFR 101.9. Major food allergens must be declared, either inside the ingredient list or in a separate Contains statement.

In what order do ingredients go on the label?

Descending order of predominance by weight, using the weight at the time the food is made, not the finished weight. 21 CFR 101.4(a)(2) allows one exception: ingredients making up 2 percent or less by weight may be grouped at the end after a quantifying statement such as 'Contains 2 percent or less of…'. This generator produces both versions so you can pick.

Do I have to use a Contains statement for allergens?

No — you may instead name the food source in the ingredient list itself, for example 'whey (milk)'. What you cannot do is leave it out. If you use a Contains statement it must appear immediately after or next to the ingredient list, in type no smaller than the ingredient list, and it must name every major allergen present.

What is the difference between this and the Nutrition Facts panel alone?

The panel is one of the five required elements. This page produces the panel plus the two statements that sit under it and cause most of the label errors: the ingredient statement in the right order, and the allergen declaration naming the specific tree nut, fish or crustacean where the statute requires it.

Does the generator handle the net quantity statement?

It gives you the number to put in it. The finished weight field is the net weight of the batch; the net quantity of contents on a package is that weight divided by the number of packages, declared in both US customary and metric units under 21 CFR 101.105. The generator does not lay out the principal display panel, which is a design job, not a calculation.

Panel · ingredients · allergens

Food label generator

A food label is more than the panel. This food label generator produces all three regulated blocks from one recipe: the Nutrition Facts panel under 21 CFR 101.9, the ingredient statement in descending order of predominance by weight under 21 CFR 101.4(a)(1), and the Contains statement covering the nine major allergens. A batch of maple pecan granola is loaded and labelled below.

No sign-up. No watermark. No limit.

Ingredient and allergen statements

INGREDIENTS: Rolled oats, Maple syrup, Pecans, Canola oil, Salt, Cinnamon.

Contains: Tree Nuts (Pecan).

Alternative wording using the 2%-or-less grouping — 21 CFR 101.4(a)(2)

INGREDIENTS: Rolled oats, Maple syrup, Pecans, Canola oil. Contains 2 percent or less of salt, cinnamon.

Tree Nuts

Show the arithmetic

Nutrient

Added Sugars contributed by each ingredient
Ingredient	Weight	Per 100 g	Contributes
Maple syrup	157.5 g	60.46 g	95.22 g
Rolled oats	468.0 g	0.00 g	0.00 g
Pecans	113.4 g	0.00 g	0.00 g
Canola oil	54.5 g	0.00 g	0.00 g
Salt	3.0 g	0.00 g	0.00 g
Cinnamon	2.6 g	0.00 g	0.00 g
Whole recipe			95.22 g

95.22 g ÷ 13 servings = 7.325 g per serving

1 g and above rounds to the nearest 1 g increment. → declared as 7g (101.9(c)(6)(iii))

7g ÷ Daily Value = 14.00% → 14% DV (101.9(d)(7)(ii))

Incomplete USDA data: Rolled oats, Pecans, Maple syrup. Missing values are treated as zero, which can understate a nutrient. Vitamin D is the usual gap.

How the ingredient order is decided

By weight at the time of manufacture, heaviest first. Not by volume, not by how the recipe was written, and not by the finished weight after baking. The generator sorts the list for you and shows the weights it sorted on.

Ingredients of the granola batch in descending order of weight
Order	Ingredient	Weight	Share of batch
1	Rolled oats	468.0 g	58.57%
2	Maple syrup	157.5 g	19.71%
3	Pecans	113.4 g	14.19%
4	Canola oil	54.5 g	6.82%
5	Salt	3.0 g	0.38%
6	Cinnamon	2.6 g	0.33%

“Ingredients required to be declared on the label or labeling of a food … shall be listed by common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight on either the principal display panel or the information panel.”

21 CFR 101.4(a)(1)

Why granola is the added-sugars trap

Total sugars and added sugars are different lines with different rules. Total sugars is a composition question a database can answer. Added sugars is a question about manufacture — 21 CFR 101.9(c)(6)(iii) defines them as sugars “added during the processing of foods, or … packaged as such” — so no database can hold the answer and any tool that claims to know it is guessing.

In this batch the maple syrup is 100% added sugars by definition, while the sugars naturally present in the oats and pecans are not. That is why the Added Sugars line lands at 7 g per serving — 14% of the 50 g Daily Value — from half a cup of syrup across thirteen servings. Every ingredient line has a checkbox so you set it, not the software.

Frequently asked questions

What has to be on a US food label?: Five things. A statement of identity — what the food is. A net quantity of contents. The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor. An ingredient statement in descending order of predominance by weight, per 21 CFR 101.4(a)(1). And, unless exempt, a Nutrition Facts panel per 21 CFR 101.9. Major food allergens must be declared, either inside the ingredient list or in a separate Contains statement.
In what order do ingredients go on the label?: Descending order of predominance by weight, using the weight at the time the food is made, not the finished weight. 21 CFR 101.4(a)(2) allows one exception: ingredients making up 2 percent or less by weight may be grouped at the end after a quantifying statement such as 'Contains 2 percent or less of…'. This generator produces both versions so you can pick.
Do I have to use a Contains statement for allergens?: No — you may instead name the food source in the ingredient list itself, for example 'whey (milk)'. What you cannot do is leave it out. If you use a Contains statement it must appear immediately after or next to the ingredient list, in type no smaller than the ingredient list, and it must name every major allergen present.
What is the difference between this and the Nutrition Facts panel alone?: The panel is one of the five required elements. This page produces the panel plus the two statements that sit under it and cause most of the label errors: the ingredient statement in the right order, and the allergen declaration naming the specific tree nut, fish or crustacean where the statute requires it.
Does the generator handle the net quantity statement?: It gives you the number to put in it. The finished weight field is the net weight of the batch; the net quantity of contents on a package is that weight divided by the number of packages, declared in both US customary and metric units under 21 CFR 101.105. The generator does not lay out the principal display panel, which is a design job, not a calculation.