FDA serving size and RACC rules

Serving sizes must reflect what people customarily eat, set by FDA's RACC values — plus when dual-column and single-serving rules apply.

Serving size comes from the RACC

Serving sizes must reflect the amount people customarily eat, not a portion the manufacturer chooses. FDA fixes this through its Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs), one per food category. The serving-size rules were updated by the 2016 final rule.

How the serving is shown

The label states the number of servings per container and the serving size in a common household measure plus grams — so a shopper sees both how many servings are in the pack and how big each one is.

Dual-column labeling

Dual-column labeling — per serving and per container — is required for certain products between one and two servings that could reasonably be consumed in one sitting, so both figures are in front of the buyer.

Single-serving and "as prepared"

A product packaged and sold individually that contains 150–200% of the RACC may be labeled as a single serving. Foods that need preparation can show "as packaged" and "as prepared" columns. LabelYog derives the serving size from the RACC and adds the extra columns when the rules call for them — LabelYog builds it from your recipe.

At a glance

• Serving size derived from the category RACC
• Servings per container stated
• Serving size in household measure plus grams
• Dual-column labeling where one-to-two-serving rules apply
• Single-serving or "as prepared" columns applied correctly

Questions