FDA Packaging Guidelines for Chocolate???
Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques
Hello, hello @Mattworks -
I went through quite a bit of labeling designs and guidelines under the scrutiny of lawyers and I'd love to pass on just a few tid-bits for where we got caught up so you don't make the same mistakes.
I'm sure there are brands that violate these, but this is what our lawyer caught.
Be careful using the word "with" as in chocolate "with" almonds as this has a special 10% of DV meaning to the FDA and most inclusions don't have a DV level. You can use "and" instead.
In packages with multiple pieces the minimum serving size for chocolate is 32 g. This means if you have a 14 g piece, your serving size is 3 pieces. Only way around this is to package them for individual sale.
For calories- you must round to the nearest 10 calories for values over 50 calories.
Be very careful on any claims on packaging and also your certification strategy. I believe you can be over certified which throws up a lot of red tape and may not even matter to your customers.
If interested in having your packaging reviewed reach out to:
Evelyn Cadman
Principal Consultant
303-432-1605
www.BioTransApp.com
www.FDALabels.com
It's expensive but if you are doing large runs of packaging it's worth it.
Of course as Clay said, if you are under $100k in revenue you will be exempt/ overlooked for a lot of these regulations.
