Can I make a Nutrition Facts label from a recipe?

Yes. You need the grams of each ingredient, nutrient data per 100 g, the final product weight and the serving size required by the RACC for that food category.

Who sets the serving size on an FDA label?

The FDA reference amount (RACC) in 21 CFR 101.12 sets the serving size. For discrete units, 21 CFR 101.9(b)(2)(i) explains how to convert the reference amount to whole units.

Why is the label different from the raw ingredient totals?

Cooking adds or removes water. The nutrients stay in the food but the density changes, so the finished product weight is used to calculate nutrients per gram.

How to make a Nutrition Facts label from your recipe

A recipe gives you ingredients and grams. An FDA label needs something different: nutrient amounts for one serving, in the units and rounding the regulation requires. These are the steps that connect the two.

1. Write the recipe in grams

Convert every ingredient to grams, including liquids. Cups and tablespoons are fine in the kitchen, but nutrient databases store values per 100 g. If you weigh the finished product, you also get the number that matters for the label: the weight after baking, reducing or draining.

2. Match each ingredient to a nutrient database

USDA FoodData Central is the public source most US producers use. Search each ingredient and confirm the match by its FDC ID. The trap is the preparation state: “chicken, breast, raw” and “chicken, breast, cooked” are different records with different water content. Pick the state you actually put in the package.

For a branded ingredient, use the manufacturer’s data. For a whole ingredient, a generic USDA record is usually enough — as long as the state matches.

3. Calculate the total nutrients in the batch

Multiply each ingredient’s per-100 g values by its grams and divide by 100. Add everything. This gives the nutrient totals for the whole batch. Do not divide by the raw weight yet.

4. Use the finished product weight

Bread loses water in the oven; rice gains it on the stove. The calories in the batch stay the same, but the weight changes, so the amount per gram changes too. Divide the batch totals by the final product weight, not by the sum of the raw ingredients.

If a recipe weighs 885 g raw and 750 g baked, a 50 g slice is 50/750 of the batch — not 50/885. Using the raw weight understates every nutrient by about 18% in this example.

5. Set the serving size from the RACC

This is the part most calculators get wrong. The serving size is not the amount you would like to sell. It comes from the FDA reference amount (RACC) for the food category in 21 CFR 101.12. For cookies, bars, sliced bread and other discrete units, 21 CFR 101.9(b)(2)(i) tells you how to convert the reference amount into whole units.

Unit weighs 50% or less of the RACC: declare the number of whole units closest to the RACC.
Unit weighs 67% to 200% of the RACC: declare one unit.
Unit weighs 200% to 300%: declare the amount closest to the RACC and add a per-unit column.
Unit weighs more than 300%: use a fractional slice (1/2, 1/3, 1/4…).

Once you have the serving size in grams, multiply the per-gram nutrient density by that serving weight. That is the “amount per serving” on the label.

6. Apply FDA rounding, nutrient by nutrient

There is no single rounding rule. Calories go in 5-calorie steps up to 50 and 10-calorie steps above 50. Fats below 5 g go in 0.5 g steps; above 5 g, in whole grams. Sodium uses 5 mg steps up to 140 mg and 10 mg steps above 140 mg. Vitamins and minerals do not use a whole-percent %DV: they use 2%, 5% and 10% increments depending on the level.

The %DV is calculated by dividing the amount by the Daily Reference Value — 78 g fat, 20 g saturated fat, 300 mg cholesterol, 2,300 mg sodium, 275 g carbohydrate, 28 g fiber, 50 g added sugars and 50 g protein for a 2,000-calorie diet.

7. Format the label and check it

The label needs “Nutrition Facts”, servings per container, serving size, calories, the mandatory nutrients in order, the %DV column and the footnote. Type sizes have minimums, and the calories line has its own rules. Then check the result: serving size against the RACC, %DV against the unrounded amounts, and the ingredient and allergen statements against the actual formulation.

Serving Fact automates steps 3 to 7. You still have to choose the right ingredient match, set the final weight and confirm the allergens.

Next: what a label must contain, by product type, or template vs. generator.