Nutrition Fact Panels

[cartoonfan1983]

I do not know if anyone on this forum is making an ingestible product like Tim, but if anyone is, I was curious as to any resources for creating Nutrition facts panels.

I have found some sites: http://www.labelcalc.com and http://www.rlfoodtestinglaboratory.com/default.aspx

Any other help would be much appreciated!

Michael

[mascij]

It looks easy enough to do in photoshop or MS Word, just create a table and bold the fields that needed to bolded, etc etc.

Or you could scan one in and photoshop it fit your needs.

[Design_Nerd]

I helped create and launch a line of baking mixes and spent countless hours educating myself on Nutrition Fact Panels. I am by no means and expert but will gladly tell you what I have learned. Do you mind telling me W\what Type of resource are you looking for? For example Do you need to have them created/calculated/made for you? are you looking for general info about the process etc?

[cartoonfan1983]

Well, I will not know exactly the nutrition information such as fat, calories, etc. There's no way I could just photoshop one that's already there.

[cartoonfan1983]

I helped create and launch a line of baking mixes and spent countless hours educating myself on Nutrition Fact Panels. I am by no means and expert but will gladly tell you what I have learned. Do you mind telling me W\what Type of resource are you looking for? For example Do you need to have them created/calculated/made for you? are you looking for general info about the process etc?

I need to have the nutrition info calculated and then turned into a panel specifically. I was just not sure about how the process works.

Michael

[Design_Nerd]

Its pretty simple provided you know weather you need a Nutrition fact panel or a supplement info panel. ( I am assuming you are in the U.S. ) Do you know which of these you need?

You need to have your recipe, and know what you serving size is. You can then either use a service like labelcalc and do it yourself, or use a professional. I can give you the name of 2 that I have used in the past if you like, on average the run about 300-400 a label. This provides you with what they call a camera ready label that you can put on your product. Keep in mind they are simply doing the analysis from a database of ingredients, not from you actual product. There for if you are making any allergy claims you need to be sure your manufactures and vendors are willing to make the same allergen claims you are. if you need more info on allergens specifically let me know.

I don't recommend trying to "photoshop" your own lable as the FDA has strict guidelines as to what has to be on there, its size and it differs based upon your packaging and your product.

A few other things to note:
you will need a state approved and licensed food warehouse to store and ship the product from.

I am not sure of the number, but I know if you are selling less then X amount per year you do not have to deal with Nutritional info. Check with you local dept of agriculture. (this is why local farmers don't have Nutritional info on say there apple cider)

be careful what you claim on the packaging of your product, you can not simple state the the product is low in fat, there are strict guidelines set by the FDA, the same person that does your labels should be able to help you with this as well.

Hope this helps

[cartoonfan1983]

It absolutely helps! Thanks, Design_Nerd. If you could, do you mind giving me the info of the two resources you have (either by PM or on here)? I'm making a supplement for people who want to live organically.

Michael

[Marcie]

Hey Michael - they do this at NC State, here is the link:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/ext/programs/ncfood/labeling_info.htm

I happen to know that they use this database:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

although they told me they use other resources as well, probably their own. I have found that most labels are made from this single database, but I think this mostly deals with food products, not sure how they are typically crafted for supplements - though.

[maxcascone]

So is it just the Label that has to be calculated? What other regulations are there that have to be followed regarding producing food products? We plan to move production to an outsource facility, but anticipate making the first few hundred servings of our product at home. Are there laws regarding doing that?

If it's just getting the label calculated from a database, is it worth paying $175+ to use LabelCalc? Why can't you just look up the values in the publicly accessable FDA database and add them up? We are not cooking our product so I don't think the values would change from the database values.

Thanks
Max