Frequently asked questions

Most packaged foods sold at retail in the US need one. Very small businesses (under certain annual sales/unit thresholds) can claim an FDA exemption, but many retailers, distributors and farmers-market organizers ask for a label anyway, and it builds real credibility with your customers. If you are unsure whether your product qualifies for an exemption, ask us.

For free, you can build your label and see its exact shape, its calorie count, the nutrient content claims your product qualifies for (with the FDA rule behind each), your allergen “Contains” line, which nutrient to watch, and your full ingredient statement and allergen declaration on screen. No credit card is required. Save it to a free account to keep it (guest builds are kept 7 days). For $29, Single Product unlocks the rest of the numbers on that label, every FDA format your product qualifies for, print-ready downloads (including the ingredient statement as a Word file), and 12 months of recipe edits. Your downloads never expire. After the year, you can unlock the product again for $29 or move to the Studio plan. You never type in numbers we can calculate for you.

Single Product includes 12 months of recipe edits from the day you unlock it. Your downloads never expire. Sign in and print your label for as long as you like. If your recipe changes after the year, unlock that product again for $29, or move to the Studio plan ($299 a year), where every product stays editable for as long as your plan is active.

Yes, on your first Single Product purchase. Ask for a refund within 14 days of buying it. One refund per customer, and a refund removes access to that product’s label and downloads. The Studio plan, the Co-packer plan and expert services do not carry a money-back guarantee. You can cancel a plan any time, and it stops at the end of the paid year.

Your nutrient values are computed from USDA FoodData Central plus any supplier data you enter for your specific ingredients. Rounding, % Daily Values and label-format rules follow 21 CFR 101.9 (the FDA’s 2016 nutrition-labeling rule). Allergen statements follow FALCPA and the FASTER Act. Serving sizes follow the Reference Amounts (RACC) in 21 CFR 101.12.

Yes. Once you buy Single Product (or the Studio plan or the Co-packer plan) for a product, your downloaded label is yours to print and sell with, with no additional license or royalty needed. Final responsibility for label accuracy and compliance stays with you as the manufacturer. See our Terms of Service.

Database analysis is how the majority of labels on store shelves are made. The FDA does not approve labels in advance. If it checks your product, it compares what is in the package with what your label declares (21 CFR 101.9(g)), so the accuracy of your ingredient data is what matters. Lab analysis is generally only recommended when cooking changes a food in ways databases cannot model (deep-fried foods, for example). We calculate from USDA FoodData Central and your suppliers’ spec sheets.

If you build it yourself, it takes minutes. Once your recipe is in, your label is ready to preview. With the expert service, delivery is within 5 business days of when we receive your complete documentation.

On self-serve, you can revise your recipe and regenerate your label any time during the 12 months of edits included with each product, or any time on the Studio plan or the Co-packer plan. That is the biggest advantage of doing it online. A done-for-you label includes two revisions within 30 days of delivery so you can fine-tune (that “too much sodium” moment is common, and a small recipe tweak often fixes it). After that the label is yours to edit, and a $69 Label Review can have an expert check your changes.

It depends on your package’s available label area and servings per container. Full-size packages use the standard vertical panel. Packages under 40 in² may use tabular, and very small packages may use linear. Packages containing 200 to 300% of the reference amount generally need a dual-column panel. The serving-size wizard works out eligibility for you, or our experts pick it for you. See Label Formats.

Your serving size is not up to you. The FDA sets Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACC) for every product category in 21 CFR 101.12. We match your product to its category and compute your serving-size declaration (household measure plus metric) per 101.9(b), including the special rules for discrete units and single-serving packages.

Yes. They come with every self-serve option from Single Product up, and with the done-for-you service. Your ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight with sub-ingredients handled correctly, and your “Contains” statement covers the nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame).

Only if your numbers meet the FDA’s specific threshold for that claim. The claims checker tests any nutrient content claim against the regulation before you print it. A claim the numbers cannot back up is one of the most common causes of FDA warning letters, so the check is worth the minute it takes.

Print-ready PDF, SVG (vector, scales to any size for your packaging designer) and PNG at whatever resolution your printer asks for. Your label meets the FDA’s minimum type sizes and typography rules at print scale.

Yes. NutriLabels runs in your phone’s browser, and you can add it to your home screen so it opens full screen with its own icon. In Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. In Chrome on Android, tap the menu, then Install app. Build a product, check your label and download your files from your phone. Everything you save shows up within your online profile too. There is nothing to install from an app store.

Yes. Your self-serve recipes live in your account and are never shared. For expert service, our standing non-disclosure agreement is posted publicly on our website.

The Studio plan and the Co-packer plan renew automatically once a year. We email you a reminder 30 days before your renewal date, and you can cancel any time from My Account on this site. If you stop your subscription, your account drops to the free preview and everything you built stays readable.

Yes. Everything you get follows the current format from the FDA’s 2016 final rule. That means the large calories display, the Added Sugars line, vitamin D and potassium, updated Daily Values and updated serving sizes. We also monitor the eCFR and Federal Register continuously so your labels stay current if the rules change again.

There is no volume discount. If you make more than one product, the Studio plan covers unlimited products for $299 a year.

Right after checkout, you go to our secure recipe submission form. There you enter your full ingredient list with exact amounts, batch yield, package weight, any cooking or moisture loss and allergens, and you upload supplier spec sheets for prepared ingredients. Your submission is covered by our standing NDA. We confirm receipt within one business day. The delivery clock starts once we confirm your documentation is complete, and your finished files arrive by email within 5 business days.

We stand behind our work. Your first Single Product purchase carries a 14-day money-back guarantee, and if you are not satisfied with an expert-service deliverable, we will make it right.