The 4 Most Common Mistakes in Preparing FDA Nutritional Labels for the United States

Nutritional labels for food products being imported into the American market are subject to a series of strict regulations set by the FDA. It's easy to get lost in the maze of regulations, especially if it's not something you do every day. Below, we list the four most common mistakes found in nutritional labels for the American market.

• MISTAKE 1: THE INDICATED SERVING SIZE IS INCORRECT
  The serving sizes indicated in food nutritional information are regulated by the FDA. Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs) are used to determine the servings. The serving declaration consists of two parts: a "household measure term" followed by its metric equivalent in grams. For beverages, household measures can be declared as fluid ounces, cups, or fractions of a cup with the metric equivalent in milliliters (mL).
• MISTAKE 2: INCORRECT SERVINGS PER PACKAGE
  Taking pizza as an example, slices are treated as "discrete units." A slice is considered a single serving if its weight ranges from 67% to less than 200% of the reference amount. Larger slices (weighing at least 200% and up to 300% of the reference amount) may also require dual-column labeling. For slices weighing between 50% and 67% of the reference amount, the serving can be declared as one or two slices. For slices weighing less than 50% of the reference amount, the serving corresponds to the number of slices closest to the reference amount.
• MISTAKE 3: USING THE WRONG FORMAT FOR THE NUTRITION LABEL
  Ensure to follow the FDA guidelines for presenting nutritional information. Using a non-compliant format can lead to potential FDA regulatory violations.
• MISTAKE 4: IMPROPER ROUNDING OF NUTRITIONAL VALUES
  It's essential to round nutritional values correctly as prescribed by the FDA for rounding: each type of ingredient has different rounding rules.