Small Business Nutrition Labeling Exemption: Does Your Product Qualify?

When it comes to nutrition labeling, the FDA takes things pretty seriously. All food products sold into retail must have nutrition information clearly stated in the latest label format, health claims must be accurate and the presence of allergens must be clearly stated. Not to mention the ingredient list has to be in descending order and a host of other criteria that must be met by the food manufacturer to be deemed “FDA-Compliant” by this very stringent governing authority. But then, there is an exception or two to these rules. Small businesses that meet specific criteria with their food products may qualify for a Nutrition Labeling Exemption. Does your product qualify? Moreover, is this a good idea? Let’s review.

Small businesses that meet the criteria set forth by the Food and Drug Administration may qualify for a Nutrition Labeling Exemption — but you need to file for it. Wouldn’t it be easier to just take a few minutes and create your FDA-Approved nutrition label instead?

Meeting the Criteria for the Small Business Nutrition Labeling Exemption

Let’s cut right to the chase. According to an article released by the FDA here are the top reasons a small business may qualify for a labeling exemption:

Number of Employees

In regards to low-volume products (this could be anything from home-made items sold at farmer’s markets to small bulks of products sold to retail. According to the FDA, if a small business employs less than 100 full-time equivalent employees and fewer than 100,000 units of that product are sold in the United States in a 12-month period, they may qualify for an exemption.

While this sounds convenient, in order to qualify, this particular food labeling exemption must be filed for and approved every year.

Annual Gross Sales of Less than $500,000

Pretty self-explanatory. If a small business’ annual gross sales are less than a half a million, the food products or dietary supplements produced by this company may qualify for a labeling exemption.

Filing for Labeling Exemption vs. Just Creating a Nutrition Facts Panel

Although skipping the labeling process and filing for a labeling exemption may sound enticing to a small business, the exemption process is more of a headache than just getting the label created in the first place. Now we may sound biased being that ,well, we are a label-creation software, but we aren’t (we swear). It’s just plain logical. The truth of the matter is that you can take 20 minutes and create a FDA-Approved Nutrition Facts Panel for your food product complete with accompanying allergen and ingredients statements and appropriate health claims that will stand the test of time. ONCE. Or each year, you can go through a length labeling exemption process until you meet the the employee or revenue thresholds.

In the name of simplicity, and maybe a little bit for our sanity (and yours!), just create the nutrition fact panel once and save yourself the time and paperwork of filing a small business exemption. No one likes filing taxes, a nutrition labeling exemption is no different.

Meeting the labeling requirements for your food product is simple with the LabelCalc software. One time, a handful of minutes and you’re FDA-approved. Save yourself the hassle and just LabelCalc it.

Need help with creating a nutrition facts label for your food product to meet federal regulations and get ready for retail stores? LabelCalc is the most trusted nutrition labeling software in the food industry. Let’s get you FDA-Compliant. Contact Us Today.