How to set the serving size

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 is7 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.

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

Paragraph	What the regulation says
(1)	(1) The term serving or serving size means an amount of food customarily consumed per eating occasion by persons 4 years of age or older which is expressed in a common household measure that is appropriate to the food. When the food is specially formulated or processed for use by infants or by toddlers, a serving or serving size means an amount of food customarily consumed per eating occasion by infants up to 12 months of age or by children 1 through 3 years of age, respectively.
(2)	(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3), (b)(4), and (b)(6) of this section and for products that are intended for weight control and are available only through a weight-control or weight-maintenance program, serving size declared on a product label shall be determined from the “Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed Per Eating Occasion * * * *” (reference amounts) that appear in § 101.12(b) using the procedures described below. For products that are both intended for weight control and available only through a weight-control program, a manufacturer may determine the serving size that is consistent with the meal plan of the program. Such products must bear a statement, “for sale only
(i)	(i) For products in discrete units (e.g., muffins, sliced products, such as sliced bread, or individually packaged products within a multiserving package) and for products which consist of two or more foods packaged and presented to be consumed together where the ingredient represented as the main ingredient is in discrete units (e.g., pancakes and syrup), the serving size shall be declared as follows:
(ii)	(ii) For products in large discrete units that are usually divided for consumption (e.g., cake, pie, pizza, melon, cabbage), for unprepared products where the entire contents of the package is used to prepare large discrete units that are usually divided for consumption (e.g., cake mix, pizza kit), and for products which consist of two or more foods packaged and presented to be consumed together where the ingredient represented as the main ingredient is a large discrete unit usually divided for consumption (e.g., prepared cake packaged with a can of frosting), the serving size shall be the fractional slice of the ready-to-eat product (e.g., 1/12 cake, 1/8 pie, 1/4 pizza, 1/4 melon, 1/6
(iii)	(iii) For nondiscrete bulk products (e.g., breakfast cereal, flour, sugar, dry mixes, concentrates, pancake mixes, macaroni and cheese kits), and for products which consist of two or more foods packaged and presented to be consumed together where the ingredient represented as the main ingredient is a bulk product (e.g., peanut butter and jelly), the serving size shall be the amount in household measure that most closely approximates the reference amount for the product category and may be the amount of the bulk product represented as the main ingredient plus proportioned minor ingredients used to make the reference amount for the combined product determined in § 101.12(f).
(ii)	(ii) The gram or milliliter quantity equivalent to the household measure should be rounded to the nearest whole number except for quantities that are less than 5 g (mL). The gram (mL) quantity between 2 and 5 g (mL) should be rounded to the nearest 0.5 g (mL) and the g (mL) quantity less than 2 g (mL) should be expressed in 0.1-g (mL) increments.
(iii)	(iii) In addition, serving size may be declared in ounce and fluid ounce, in parenthesis, following the metric measure separated by a slash where other common household measures are used as the primary unit for serving size, e.g., 1 slice (28 g/1 oz) for sliced bread. The ounce quantity equivalent to the metric quantity should be expressed in 0.1 oz increments.

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.

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