There’s too much information in Food Labeling & Nutrition Guidance for Industry. What’s below is also probably too detailed for the average reader of my website, but was of interest to me since I’ve tried to use the USDA tables to calculate the nutrition in my recipes in Crunch! Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers and to understand why commercial product nutrition facts didn’t match up to what I expected to find (here is an easy simple guide to the Nutrition Facts Panel).
Ingredients: they’re listed by descending weight (not volume)
What “major food allergens” need to be declared on the label? Milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans – these account for 90% of all food allergies (though 152 more foods that cause allergies have been identified.
Nutrition Labeling
No wonder I couldn’t figure out why Fritos Original Corn Chips fiber and protein didn’t match the implied ratio of corn flour to oil. I assumed that they were using the official USDA database values, but they can use their own database if they like, which they don’t have to submit to the FDA! And the FDA recommends they calculate the nutrition by ingredient like I did in the Fritos corn chips post, but that’s just a recommendation, manufacturers don’t have to do this.
“FDA’s continuing policy since the 1970s assigns the manufacturer the responsibility for assuring the validity of a product label’s stated nutrient values. Accordingly, the source of the data used to calculate nutrition label values is the prerogative of the manufacturer, but FDA’s policy recommends that the nutrient values for labeling be based on product composition, as determined by laboratory analysis of each nutrient. Submitting Data Bases to FDA is Voluntary. Although FDA encourages industry to submit nutrition labeling data bases to the agency for review, submission of a data base to FDA for the purpose of nutrition labeling is voluntary. The agency has not and does not intend to prescribe how an individual company is to determine nutrient content for labeling purposes”
And here are the rounding rules:
| Nutrient | Increment Rounding | Insignificant Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Calories Calories from Fat Calories from Saturated Fat |
< 5 cal – express as 0 ≤ 50 cal – express to nearest 5 cal increment > 50 cal – express to nearest 10 cal increment |
< 5 cal |
| Total Fat Saturated Fat Polyunsaturated Fat Monounsaturated Fat |
< .5 g – express as 0 < 5 g – express to nearest .5g increment ≥ 5 g – express to nearest 1 g increment |
< .5 g |
| Cholesterol | < 2 mg – express as 0 2 – 5 mg – express as “less than 5 mg” > 5 mg – express to nearest 5 mg increment |
< 2 mg |
| Sodium Potassium |
< 5 mg – express as 0 5 – 140 mg – express to nearest 5 mg increment > 140 mg – express to nearest 10 mg increment |
< 5 mg |
| Total Carbohydrate Dietary Fiber |
< .5 g – express as 0 < 1 g – express as “Contains less than 1 g” or “less than 1 g” ≥ 1 g – express to nearest 1 g increment |
< 1 g |
| Soluble and Insoluble Fiber Sugars Sugar Alcohol Other Carbohydrate |
< .5 g – express as 0 < 1 g – express as “Contains less than 1 g” or “less than 1 g” ≥ 1 g – express to nearest 1 g increment |
< .5 g |
| Protein | < .5 g – express as 0 < 1 g – express as “Contains less than 1 g” or “less than 1 g” or to 1 g if .5 g to < 1 g ≥ 1 g – express to nearest 1 g increment |
< 1 g |
| When declaring nutrients other than vitamins and minerals that have RDIs as a % DV | express to nearest 1% DV increment | < 1% DV |
| Vitamins & Minerals (express as % DV) |
< 2% of RDI may be expressed as: (1) 2% DV if actual amount is 1% or more (2) 0 (3) an asterisk that refers to statement “Contains less than 2% of the Daily Value of this (these) nutrient(s)” (4) for Vit A, C, calcium, iron: statement “Not a significant source of (listing the vitamins and minerals omitted)”≤ 10% of RDI – express to nearest 2% DV increment > 10% – 50% of RDI – express to nearest 5% DV increment > 50% of RDI – express to nearest 10% DV increment |
< 2% RDI |
| Beta-Carotene (express as % DV) |
≤ 10% of RDI for vitamin A- express to nearest 2% DV increment > 10% – 50% of RDI for vitamin A- express to nearest 5% DV increment > 50% of RDI for vitamin A- express to nearest 10% DV increment |
To express nutrient values to the nearest 1 g increment, for amounts falling exactly halfway between two whole numbers or higher (e.g., 2.5 to 2.99 g), round up (e.g., 3 g). For amounts less than halfway between two whole numbers (e.g, 2.01 g to 2.49 g), round down (e.g., 2 g).
When rounding % DV for nutrients other than vitamins and minerals, when the % DV values fall exactly halfway between two whole numbers or higher (e.g., 2.5 to 2.99), the values round up (e.g., 3 %). For values less than halfway between two whole numbers (e.g., 2.01 to 2.49), the values round down (e.g., 2%).
