Food labels in the United States must include five core elements: a statement of identity (the product name), the net quantity of contents, a Nutrition Facts panel, an ingredient list, and the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. Beyond these five, federal law also requires allergen declarations, bioengineered food disclosures when applicable, and specific formatting rules that determine where each element appears on the package.
Statement of Identity and Net Quantity
The statement of identity is simply the name of the food. It must appear on the front of the package, known in labeling regulations as the principal display panel. This can be a common name like “tomato soup” or a descriptive name that tells you what the product actually is. Right alongside it, the net quantity statement tells you exactly how much product is inside, expressed in both metric and U.S. customary units (grams and ounces, for example). Both of these elements are required on the front of the package so you can identify what you’re buying at a glance.
The Nutrition Facts Panel
The Nutrition Facts panel is the most information-dense element on any food label. It must list calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars, and protein. Four vitamins and minerals are also mandatory: vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium. Vitamins A and C used to be required but are now voluntary. For each required nutrient, the label shows both the actual amount per serving and the percent Daily Value, which tells you how much one serving contributes to a 2,000-calorie daily diet.
The panel also includes a footnote that reads: “The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.” This baseline was updated alongside newer daily values for nutrients like sodium, dietary fiber, and vitamin D, reflecting more current nutritional science.
Serving Sizes
Serving sizes aren’t chosen arbitrarily by manufacturers. The FDA establishes Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) for each product category, representing how much of a food people typically eat in one sitting. Manufacturers then convert that reference amount into the nearest household measure, like “1 cup” or “about 12 chips.” This standardization means you can more fairly compare similar products. If a bag of chips and a box of crackers both use the same reference amount, the nutritional numbers are based on roughly the same quantity of food.
Added Sugars
Added sugars get their own line on the Nutrition Facts panel, separate from total sugars. This category includes sugars introduced during processing (like sucrose or dextrose), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. It does not include sugars naturally present in milk, whole fruits, or vegetables. The daily value for added sugars is 50 grams per day, so if a product contains 25 grams of added sugars, the label will show 50% DV. Single-ingredient sweeteners like maple syrup or honey follow a slightly different format, listing the percent Daily Value for added sugars with an option to include the gram amount in a footnote.
Trans Fat
Trans fat remains a required line item on the Nutrition Facts panel because it raises LDL cholesterol. Partially hydrogenated oils, once the primary source of artificial trans fat, were removed from the food supply by a 2018 FDA ruling that declared them no longer safe for use. A final compliance date of January 1, 2021, allowed remaining products to clear distribution. In 2023, the FDA issued a rule removing outdated references to these oils from regulations entirely. Small amounts of naturally occurring trans fat from animal products can still appear on labels.
The Ingredient List
Every packaged food must list its ingredients in descending order by weight. The ingredient present in the largest amount comes first, and the one present in the smallest amount comes last. This ordering gives you a quick read on what a product is mostly made of. If sugar appears second on a cereal box, that cereal contains more sugar by weight than nearly everything else in it.
Some ingredients follow special naming rules. FDA-certified color additives must be listed by their specific names, like “Blue 1” or “FD&C Blue No. 1.” But other categories get broader treatment: ingredients can be grouped as “flavors,” “spices,” “artificial flavoring,” or “artificial colors” without naming each individual component. Chemical preservatives must be named and their function identified on the label.
Allergen Declarations
Federal law requires food labels to clearly identify the presence of nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame was the most recent addition. When tree nuts are present, the specific type must be named (almonds, pecans, walnuts). The same applies to fish (bass, flounder, cod) and crustacean shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp).
Manufacturers can meet this requirement in one of two ways. The first option is placing the allergen source in parentheses right after the ingredient name in the ingredient list, like “lecithin (soy)” or “whey (milk).” The second is adding a separate “Contains” statement immediately after the ingredient list, such as “Contains wheat, milk, and soy.” If the ingredient’s common name already identifies the allergen (like “buttermilk”), no additional declaration is needed. Either way, the allergen source must appear at least once on the label.
Manufacturer Information
Every food label must include the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. The place of business must include the city, state, and ZIP code. A street address is also required unless the company is already listed in a current city directory or telephone directory. If the company on the label didn’t actually manufacture the product, the label must clarify the relationship with a qualifier like “manufactured for” or “distributed by.”
Bioengineered Food Disclosure
Since 2022, foods that contain bioengineered (genetically modified) ingredients must carry a disclosure under the USDA’s National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. This applies to foods on the USDA’s List of Bioengineered Foods when records confirm the ingredients are bioengineered.
The disclosure takes one of several forms. A text-only option reads “Bioengineered food” for products made entirely from bioengineered ingredients, or “Contains a bioengineered food ingredient” for multi-ingredient products with at least one bioengineered component. Alternatively, manufacturers can use a standardized symbol: a green and white circle featuring a sun, leaves, and the word “BIOENGINEERED.” A digital link or phone number directing consumers to more information is also permitted as a disclosure method.
Not every product with corn or soy ingredients will carry this label. The disclosure is only required when records demonstrate the food actually is bioengineered, and highly refined ingredients where modified genetic material is no longer detectable (like certain oils and sugars) may be exempt depending on the manufacturer’s records.