21 CFR 101.9(f)
Simplified nutrition facts label format
The simplified format is for foods that are mostly nothing — sugar, salt, spices, oils, hard candy, jam. 21 CFR 101.9(f) permits it when the product contains insignificant amounts of eight or more of the fifteen listed nutrients. Five nutrients always stay on the panel; the rest collapse into a single “Not a significant source of …” line at the bottom.
What the regulation actually says
“The declaration of nutrition information may be presented in the simplified format set forth herein when a food product contains insignificant amounts of eight or more of the following: Calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars, protein, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium.”
What rules it out: Seven or fewer insignificant nutrients. The count is a hard threshold, and it uses the 101.9(f)(1) definition of insignificant, which is not the same test for every nutrient — carbohydrate, fibre and protein are insignificant below 1 g, everything else below its own zero-declaration threshold.
A simplified panel, rendered
Strawberry jam — sugar, fruit and pectin, with fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fibre, protein and three of the four micronutrients all insignificant. Both panels below carry the same nutrient values from the same recipe — the simplified 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 simplified format
- Compute the unrounded per-serving amount of all fifteen listed nutrients.
- Mark each one insignificant if it would declare as zero — or, for total carbohydrate, dietary fibre and protein, as “less than 1 gram”.
- Count the marks. Eight or more and the simplified format is available; seven or fewer and it is not.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Nutrition Facts” title | Largest type on the panel | 101.9(d)(2) |
| The word “Calories” | 16 pt bold | 101.9(d)(2)(iii) |
| The calories numeral | 22 pt bold | 101.9(d)(2)(iii) |
| “Not a significant source of …” line | 6 pt | 101.9(f)(4) |
| Abbreviated footnote “* % DV = % Daily Value” | 6 pt | 101.9(f)(5) |
| Nutrient rows | 8 pt | 101.9(d)(2)(iii) |
| Headings, subheadings and the footnote | 6 pt | 101.9(d)(2)(iii) |
| Leading between nutrient rows | 4 pt | 101.9(d)(2)(ii)(C) |
Practical notes
- An 'insignificant amount' is one that permits a zero declaration, except for total carbohydrate, dietary fibre and protein where it is an amount permitting 'less than 1 gram' — 101.9(f)(1).
- Calories, total fat, total carbohydrate, protein and sodium always appear even when insignificant — 101.9(f)(2)(i).
- A 'Not a significant source of …' line closes the panel and names every omitted nutrient — 101.9(f)(4).
- The full daily-diet footnote is not required; an asterisk and '% DV = % Daily Value' is enough — 101.9(f)(5).
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as an “insignificant amount” for the simplified format?
- 21 CFR 101.9(f)(1) defines it as an amount that allows a declaration of zero, except for total carbohydrate, dietary fiber and protein, where it is an amount that allows a declaration of “less than 1 gram”. So 0.3 g of fat is insignificant because fat declares as zero below 0.5 g, while 0.8 g of protein is insignificant because it declares as “less than 1 g”.
- Which nutrients stay on a simplified label even when they are insignificant?
- Calories, total fat, total carbohydrate, protein and sodium, under 101.9(f)(2)(i). They are declared as zero rather than omitted. Anything else present in more than an insignificant amount also stays. Everything remaining is named in the “Not a significant source of …” statement required by 101.9(f)(4).
- Can a simplified label drop the full footnote?
- Yes. 21 CFR 101.9(f)(5) allows the daily-diet footnote to be replaced with an asterisk and “% DV = % Daily Value”. This is one of only two places the shortened footnote is permitted — the other is a package of 40 square inches or less under 101.9(j)(13)(i).
The other five formats
Every format is an answer to a different constraint. If the simplified 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. |
| linear | One running string of text. The most constrained format there is, and the hardest to qualify for. |
| dual-column | Per serving and per container side by side. Required, not optional, on a lot of the sizes small producers actually sell. |
| 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.