FDA Nutrition Label Requirements 2024–2026: What Changed and What It Means for Food Businesses
The 2020 FDA Label Overhaul: Still Relevant in 2026
The FDA's updated Nutrition Facts label format — mandatory since 2020 — introduced several significant changes that food businesses must comply with. Non-compliance can result in FDA warning letters, import detainment, and product recalls.
Mandatory Label Elements (Current Standard)
- Serving Size — Must reflect amounts people actually eat, not artificially small servings
- Calories — In larger, bolder font
- Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Trans Fat
- Cholesterol, Sodium
- Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars
- Added Sugars — New requirement since 2020
- Protein
- Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, Potassium — Replaced Vitamins A and C
Added Sugars: The Biggest Change
The new requirement to separately declare Added Sugars was the most contentious change. The FDA defines added sugars as sugars that are either added during processing or are packaged as such (syrups, honey, concentrated fruit juice). This includes honey in food products — a significant change for natural/organic brands.
Serving Size Rules
The FDA updated Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) for 150+ food categories. Some key changes:
- Soda: single-serve containers (≤355ml) must be labeled as 1 serving
- Cookies: RACC moved from 30g to 40g
- Ice cream: RACC changed from ½ cup to ⅔ cup
When to Use Dual-Column Labels
Foods that contain 200–300% of the RACC must show dual-column labels: one "per serving" and one "per container". This prevents the old trick of claiming a small can is "2 servings".
Generate Compliant Labels in Minutes
RecipeCalc's Nutrition Label Generator produces FDA-compliant labels from your recipe data. Every mandatory field is populated automatically — you just verify the serving size and export as print-ready PNG or PDF.
