21 CFR 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(A)(2)
Linear nutrition facts label format
The linear display is the last resort when a tabular display will not fit. Under 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(A), it is available below twelve square inches, or at forty square inches or less when the package shape or size cannot accommodate a standard vertical or tabular display on any panel. The nutrient information runs as a string rather than individual rows.
What the regulation actually says
“Nutrition information may be given in a linear fashion only if the label will not accommodate a tabular display.”
What rules it out: More than forty square inches of labelling surface, or a package that can accommodate a tabular display. From twelve through forty square inches, the shape or size must also prevent a standard vertical display on every label panel.
A linear panel, rendered
Peanut butter energy balls in a single-serve sleeve — the surface area where the linear string is genuinely the only thing that fits. Both panels below carry the same nutrient values from the same recipe — the linear display on the left and the standard vertical panel on the right — so you can see exactly what this format changes and what it leaves alone.
How to establish that you may use the linear format
- Measure the total surface area available to bear labelling. It must be forty square inches or less.
- Confirm a tabular display will not fit on any panel. At twelve square inches or more, the package shape or size must also prevent a standard vertical display on every panel.
- Only then set the information linearly, using only the abbreviations listed in 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(B).
Type-size minimums for this format
Type size is where the alternative formats differ most from the default, and it is the part a designer is most likely to get wrong. These are floors, not targets.
| Element | Minimum | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| The word “Calories” | 10 pt bold | 101.9(d)(1)(iii) |
| The calories numeral | 14 pt bold | 101.9(d)(1)(iii) |
| Servings per container | 9 pt | 101.9(d)(3)(i) |
| The nutrient string | 8 pt | 101.9(d)(1)(iii) |
| Nutrient rows | 8 pt | 101.9(d)(1)(iii) |
| Headings, subheadings and the footnote | 6 pt | 101.9(d)(1)(iii) |
| Leading between nutrient rows | 4 pt | 101.9(d)(1)(ii)(C) |
Practical notes
- The abbreviations shown — Sat. Fat, Cholest., Total Carb., Vit. D, Potas., Incl. — are the ones expressly permitted by 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(B); do not invent others.
- The footnote may be reduced to the abbreviated '% DV = % Daily Value' — 101.9(j)(13)(i).
- Calories drops to 10 point with a 14 point numeral — 101.9(d)(1)(iii).
Frequently asked questions
- Which abbreviations may a linear nutrition label use?
- Only the ones 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(B) names: Sat. Fat for saturated fat, Cholest. for cholesterol, Total Carb. for total carbohydrate, Vit. D for vitamin D, Potas. for potassium and Incl. for the added-sugars phrase. Inventing further abbreviations to save space is a labelling violation, not a shortcut.
- Is the linear format the same as the small-package format?
- The small-package display is tabular; the linear display presents nutrients as a running string. A linear display always requires a failed tabular fit. A 30-square-inch package can qualify for linear presentation only when its shape or size prevents both a standard vertical and a tabular display on every panel, under 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(A).
- Does a package under 12 square inches need a nutrition label at all?
- Often not. 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13)(i) exempts food in packages with under 12 square inches of labelling surface from full nutrition labelling, provided no nutrient content or health claim is made and the label carries an address or phone number for requesting the information. Making a claim forfeits the exemption immediately.
The other five formats
Every format is an answer to a different constraint. If the linear display does not fit your package, one of these will.
| Format | When it applies |
|---|---|
| standard vertical | The default. Use it unless the package physically cannot fit roughly three inches of continuous vertical space. |
| tabular | For packages with no tall panel: the heading block sits on the left and the nutrients run in columns beside it. |
| dual-column | Per serving and per container side by side. Required, not optional, on a lot of the sizes small producers actually sell. |
| simplified | A short panel for foods that are mostly nothing — sugar, salt, spices, oils, hard candy. |
| small package | A compressed tabular panel for packages of 40 square inches or less — the jam jar, the single-serve bar, the sample pack. |
Keep going
- six FDA label formatsStandard vertical, tabular, linear, dual-column, simplified and small package — when each one is allowed.
- nutrition label makerThe same engine with the arithmetic opened up line by line, so you can see where every gram came from.
- serving size referenceAll 146 reference amounts customarily consumed from 21 CFR 101.12(b), the table that decides your serving size.
- FDA rounding rulesEvery rounding increment in 21 CFR 101.9, quoted, with worked examples and an interactive check.