Free ingredient label maker

How to write an ingredient list that follows FDA rules

Every packaged food sold in the U.S. needs an ingredient statement, even when it is exempt from Nutrition Facts. The rules are in 21 CFR 101.4.

List ingredients in descending order by weight

Ingredients are listed by common or usual name, heaviest first, based on the weight used in the recipe. That is why this tool asks for grams: enter the weight of each ingredient and the list is sorted for you. If you do not know exact weights you can switch to "Keep my order" and arrange the list yourself.

Use common names

Write "sugar", "brown sugar", "unsalted butter", "baking soda", not brand names or vague words like "spices blend" when the ingredient is something more specific. Spices, natural flavors and artificial flavors may be declared with those collective terms, but colors and chemical preservatives have their own rules under 101.22.

Break down compound ingredients

Store-bought ingredients that are themselves made of several ingredients, such as chocolate chips, graham crackers, sprinkles, margarine or Worcestershire sauce, are listed with their own ingredients in parentheses, for example: chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, vanilla). Copy the list from the package into the sub-ingredients box. This is also where hidden allergens usually are: milk and soy in chocolate, wheat in cookie crumbs, fish (anchovies) in Worcestershire sauce. The tool shows an orange warning when it sees a common compound ingredient without sub-ingredients.

Declare the major food allergens

U.S. law names nine major food allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame (sesame was added by the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023). Each must be declared either in parentheses in the ingredient list, like "flour (wheat)", or in a "Contains" statement right after it, like Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat. For tree nuts, fish and shellfish you must name the specific kind, such as walnuts, salmon or shrimp. See FDA: Food Allergies.

Under FDA's 2025 allergen guidance (Edition 5), coconut is no longer treated as a tree nut, and words that only sound like nuts, such as water chestnut, nutmeg and butternut squash, are not tree nuts. Grains such as farro, spelt, einkorn, emmer, durum, semolina, kamut and triticale are kinds of wheat and are flagged as wheat. Detection is keyword-based, so always read every line yourself.

Add the rest of the label

A complete package label also shows the product name, net quantity (for example "Net Wt 6 oz (170 g)"), and the name and place of business of the maker, packer or distributor. Home bakers selling under a cottage food law usually need a state-specific statement too; see the cottage food label maker for California, Texas, Florida and Michigan. Need a Nutrition Facts panel as well? Use the free nutrition label maker, which calculates it from the same recipe with USDA data.

A worked example

Say one batch of chocolate chip cookies uses 340 g semisweet chocolate chips, 280 g enriched flour, 225 g butter, 200 g brown sugar, 100 g sugar, 100 g eggs and a few grams of vanilla, baking soda and salt. Sorted by weight and with compound ingredients broken down, the statement reads: Ingredients: semisweet chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, vanilla), enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt. The allergen line is Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat, Soy. Notice that soy only shows up because the chocolate chips' own ingredients were entered.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Listing "chocolate chips" or "sprinkles" with no sub-ingredients, which hides milk, soy or wheat.
• Ordering by volume instead of weight, so light ingredients such as flour end up in the wrong place.
• Writing "nuts" instead of the specific tree nut, such as pecans or almonds.
• Forgetting that flavorings, glazes and toppings are ingredients too.
• Changing a supplier or brand without re-checking the new package's ingredient list.