How FDA checks a label

Newest sealed read: 2026-09-08. We re-fetch this section each month and compare it word for word. We hold 18 sealed runs going back to 2026-09-08.

What this page is10 rows held · newest sealed read 2026-09-08

Every row is the text of 21 CFR 101.9 as published in the eCFR edition of 2026-09-01, fetched through the versioner API.
A long paragraph is trimmed at a word boundary and never edited. Follow the source link for the whole thing.
This is one of 18 rule pages on this family, each on a single question a food maker actually asks.
The panel builder on the family page applies these paragraphs to your own numbers and shows its working.
Read the section yourself: 21 CFR 101.9 on the eCFR. The $49 pack is the panel files for one product; these pages are free.

Real rows out of our sealed copies

Each row is one paragraph of the regulation, quoted from the eCFR and cut at a word boundary. The left column is the paragraph label so you can find it in the source.

10 paragraphs of 21 CFR 101.9 eCFR edition of 2026-09-01

Paragraph	What the regulation says
(g)	(g) Compliance with this section shall be determined as follows:
(1)	(1) A collection of primary containers or units of the same size, type, and style produced under conditions as nearly uniform as possible, designated by a common container code or marking, or in the absence of any common container code or marking, a day's production, constitutes a “lot.”
(2)	(2) The sample for nutrient analysis shall consist of a composite of 12 subsamples (consumer units), taken 1 from each of 12 different randomly chosen shipping cases, to be representative of a lot. Unless a particular method of analysis is specified in paragraph (c) of this section, composites shall be analyzed by appropriate methods as given in the “Official Methods of Analysis of the AOAC International,” or, if no AOAC method is available or appropriate, by other reliable and appropriate analytical procedures.
(3)	(3) Two classes of nutrients are defined for purposes of compliance:
(i)	(i) Class I. Added nutrients in fortified or fabricated foods; and
(ii)	(ii) Class II. Naturally occurring (indigenous) nutrients. When a nutrient is naturally occurring (indigenous) in a food or an ingredient that is added to a food, the total amount of such nutrient in the final food product is subject to class II requirements, except that when an exogenous source of the nutrient is also added to the final food product, the total amount of the nutrient in the final food product (indigenous and exogenous) is subject to class I requirements.
(4)	(4) A food with a label declaration of a vitamin, mineral, protein, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat shall be deemed to be misbranded under section 403(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) unless it meets the following requirements:
(5)	(5) A food with a label declaration of calories, total sugars, added sugars (when the only source of sugars in the food is added sugars), total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium shall be deemed to be misbranded under section 403(a) of the act if the nutrient content of the composite is greater than 20 percent in excess of the value for that nutrient declared on the label. Provided, That no regulatory action will be based on a determination of a nutrient value that falls above this level by a factor less than the variability generally recognized for the analytical method used in that food at the level involved.
(7)	(7) Compliance will be based on the metric measure specified in the label statement of serving size.
(8)	(8) Alternatively, compliance with the provisions set forth in paragraphs (g)(1) through (6) of this section may be provided by use of an FDA approved database that has been computed following FDA guideline procedures and where food samples have been handled in accordance with current good manufacturing practice to prevent nutrition loss. FDA approval of a database shall not be considered granted until the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has agreed to all aspects of the database in writing. The approval will be granted where a clear need is presented (e.g., raw produce and seafood). Approvals will be in effect for a limited time, e.g., 10 years, and will be eligible for renewal

What this page cannot tell you

Quoted text is trimmed for length, so read the source before you rely on a paragraph.
The eCFR is a continuously updated version of the CFR and is not the official legal edition.
Meat and poultry under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act are labelled under USDA rules, not this section.
Nothing here tells you which paragraph applies to your product.

See the file before you pay

You do not have to take our word for what is in the file. Here are 25 rows of the real thing, carrying all 4 of its columns, cut out of the dated copies we sealed ourselves. Nothing in it is made up and nothing in it is tidied up.

Open the 25 rows as a CSVA plain spreadsheet file. It saves to your machine rather than painting itself into a browser tab, and it opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
The same 25 rows as JSONThe same rows again, laid out for reading with code.

What arrives after you pay: a private web page for one named product, carrying the same calculator without the DRAFT stamp, downloads of the vertical, tabular and linear panels as true vector SVG files, and a JSON copy of your recipe and your typed ingredient and allergen text — within 15 minutes of payment.

What you would be paying for: $49 once, for one product. Nothing recurring, nothing to cancel and no subscription behind it. You get a private web page for the product name you give at checkout, carrying the same calculator without the DRAFT stamp, and downloads of the Nutrition Facts panel as true vector SVG files in the vertical, tabular and linear formats, plus a JSON copy of your recipe and the ingredient and allergen text you typed. The numbers come from USDA FoodData Central, which is a public database of generic foods, not a laboratory analysis of your finished product; 21 CFR 101.9(g) describes compliance testing on a composite of 12 units and this is not that. Added sugars is a figure you supply. The ingredient statement and the allergen line are typed by you and are never generated. Regulation text is quoted from the eCFR, which is not the official legal edition of the CFR, and it may lag. Nothing we deliver says whether your label or your business is compliant, or whether an exemption applies — that is yours and your advisers' to decide. Meat and poultry labelling sits with USDA FSIS, not with 21 CFR 101. Print sizes must be checked against the printed proof. Refund on request within 14 days. There is no pay button on this page yet. The private page is delivered within 15 minutes of payment. Still not here after 15 minutes? Reply to your Stripe receipt.

These 25 rows are a slice of the file, not the whole of it. What we cannot show you here is how far back it goes: that is the part you are paying for.

Buy the file pack for one product

No pay button on this one yet. Email operations@ustechautomations.com. Ask anything before you buy. Tell us the product and we will say plainly whether this pack fits it.

Email us for the $49 checkout link

No pay button on this page yet. The calculator on this page is free and stays free.