How do you label homemade food products
General Requirements
However, in general, the label merely needs to be easily readable. There are some states that require a minimum font size on labels, but in general, this is not the case. Be sure that the text stands out sharply against the background (for example, dark blue text on a white background), and make every effort to increase the font size of everything to at least 10 points. Handwritten labels are acceptable as long as the handwriting is legible. How do you label homemade food products
On a product, you have the option of applying a single label, or you can divide the label into two panels (like a front and back panel). If you break it up into panels, the one that is most prominent is called the "primary display panel," and it is required to have the product name and net weight printed on it (if your state requires the weight). The other panel is referred to as the "information panel," and the remaining label components can be positioned on any of the two panels. Long lists of ingredients are typically assigned to the "information panel" of a product.
How do you label homemade food products
Label Elements Product Name
The common name of the food that you are selling must typically be included in the name of the product, which is sometimes referred to as the "statement of identification" of the product. When naming your product, you need to keep in mind that the vast majority of food categories have associated identity rules. For instance, if your product meets the requirements for jelly, you are not allowed to label it as jam.
However, you may still use your imagination when coming up with names for things, and in all likelihood, you should. When it comes to making a sale, having a creative name can often make all the difference. For example, Lisa Kivirist, who is a co-author of the book Homemade For Sale, does not simply sell "pickles" at the local farmers' market; rather, she sells "Pucker Ups Dill Pickles" and "Bread-and-Butter Sweet Pickles."
How do you label homemade food products
Business Name
If you already have a business license and/or a DBA, you should use the name that appears on those documents as the name of your company. In that case, you can get away with merely using your own name.
Business Address
This must be the address of the location where the product was manufactured, which in the case of a cottage food business (CFO) would be your home address. There is no way that this is a PO Box. If your address is already in a public directory, you may not be compelled to give it in certain circumstances.
How do you label homemade food products
The inclusion of a home address serves the purpose of enabling the health or agriculture department to track a dangerous product all the way back to the location where it was manufactured, so enabling them to eliminate a risk to the public's health as promptly as possible. Putting one's personal address on one's product labels is something that many chief financial officers do not enjoy doing; yet, in many states, this is simply one of the fees associated with running a business.
The Resulting Amount
Although it is more common to use the term "net weight," the term "net volume" must be used when referring to certain kinds of items, such as liquids. It is required that the net quantity be specified in both US units and metric units.
When you print your labels, it's possible that you won't be aware of the product's total net weight in all circumstances. If you are selling boxes of cupcakes, for instance, you won't exactly know how heavy the box will be until you fill it up with the cupcakes. In situations like these, it is a good idea to leave a vacant place on the printed label, or at least a partially blank space, so that you can write the net weight of each item by hand once you have weighed them.
How do you label homemade food products
Ingredients
The ingredients of a product are required to be specified in ascending weight order, with the most substantial components coming first in the list. It is required that the sub-ingredients of an ingredient be given in parenthesis if there are any. Because it isn't always obvious when a product has sub-ingredients, you should double examine the labels of every product you buy to see whether any of them have the ingredients you need. For example, "salted butter" is not an adequate label for salted butter; instead, you should label salted butter as follows: "butter (cream, salt)". How do you label homemade food products
There are certain guidelines to follow while working with spices, natural flavorings, and synthetic colors. You may choose to specify each of these elements individually, but doing so is not required. For example, if the spices that you use are a trade secret, you can just include the word "spices" in the ingredients list and be done with it. It is imperative that you study the rules in order to determine whether spices, natural flavorings, and artificial colors are permitted.
How do you label homemade food products
Allergens
Milk, eggs, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans, fish, and shellfish are the top eight foods that cause allergic reactions in those who eat them. The latter two allergies are normally not a concern for cottage food consumers because the vast majority of local laws prohibit the use of meat in cottage food products.
While the requirements for listing allergens might vary from state to state, the majority of states allow you to put allergens in the list of ingredients and provide you the option to add a separate statement below it. This is an example of a statement that identifies a specific allergen: "May contain traces of wheat, egg, and milk." In the event that you do not have a separate statement, you could want to think about emphasizing the allergies that are present in the ingredients list.
Make sure you read the labels on the ingredients you use, as there are occasions when allergies can be found in places where you wouldn't normally look for them. For example, chocolate chips frequently include soy lecithin as an ingredient. How do you label homemade food products
Statement
The buyer must be informed that the product was manufactured in a home kitchen, as required by several cottage food laws, which requires an additional statement to be printed on the product's label. There are instances when comments like this need to be written using full capital letters or higher font sizes.
Although the statement provided by each state is unique, the majority of them contain some variation of the following phrase: "This product was manufactured in a home kitchen that was not inspected by the Department of Health."
You are only required to include this statement on the labels of your physically produced products; nevertheless, some CFOs choose to also include it on their websites.
Data Relating to Nutrition
The vast majority of CFOs are free from the need that they insert nutrition facts on their product labels automatically. The vast majority of organizations that do not qualify for an exemption involuntarily may nevertheless submit an exemption request if they so choose. If you make a claim about the nutrient composition of your product or about its health benefits, you will not be eligible for an exemption.
If you are not obligated to include a nutrition facts panel on your product labels, it is recommended that you do not include one. [Case in point] There are a lot of calculators for nutrition facts available online, however the data they provide is simply approximative. You need to have your products tested in a lab in order to receive correct nutrition facts information that satisfies the regulations set forth by the federal government. This can be a time-consuming and costly process.
You will need to include nutrition information on your label if you wish to make a claim about the nutrient content of your product (such as "sugar-free" or "low fat") or about the health benefits of your product (such as "reduces the risk of heart disease"). In most cases, it is simpler to omit these claims from the label and provide them to customers verbally when they are shopping at markets.
Creating Stickers and Labels
When you're just getting started in business, I think it's best to keep things as straightforward and uncomplicated as possible, even if it's tempting to want elaborate labels for your products right away. If you try to hire a company to print labels for you, they probably have a minimum batch size which will make the labels expensive and inflexible. If you try to use a company to print labels for you, they probably have a minimum batch size (like 500 or more). At a farmers market, customers care more about you than they do about the labels on your items, and it is probable that your products will change over time.
How do you label homemade food products
Although many CFOs have begun their labeling efforts with simple documents generated in Microsoft Word, I would advise using the free label creation tools provided by Avery. Using the software, you are able to build a respectable label online in a way that is both simple and cost-effective. When you are ready to print your labels, you can go to a business that sells office supplies, get a pack of labels, and then print them at home.
If you intend to sell your products through other channels, such as retailers, you should probably give more serious consideration to having a professional design and print your product labels. Before making such an expensive jump, it is essential, in my opinion, to demonstrate that there is a market for the goods you intend to sell.