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Pasta Label

Pasta label checklist: the pasta's name, the net weight, an ingredient list, a Contains line for wheat and egg, your name and address and, unless you are exempt, Nutrition Facts per 2 oz (56 g) of dry pasta. Dried pasta has FDA standards behind its names: "spaghetti" and "egg noodles" each come with a recipe and a shape. Enter your dough and the panel is built from USDA data.

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Pasta label on a clear 12 oz bag of wide egg noodles with a kraft front label and a Nutrition Facts panel showing 210 calories per 2 oz
Checklist

What has to be on your pasta label

Six parts, front and back. The numbers match the bag on the left.

Front label
SMALL BATCHWideEgg Noodles
NET WT 12 OZ (340g)
Back label
Nutrition Facts
about 6 servings per container
Serving size2 oz (56g/about 1/6 package)
Calories210
Total Fat 3g4%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 105mg35%
Sodium 150mg7%
Total Carb. 37g13%
Dietary Fiber 1g4%
Total Sugars 0g
Incl. Added Sugars 0g0%
Protein 9g
Vitamin D 0.6mcg4%
Calcium 20mg0%
Iron 2.7mg15%
Potassium 90mg0%
INGREDIENTS: Enriched unbleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), eggs, salt.
Allergens: Contains egg, wheat.
Made by Little Lane Pasta Co.Burlington, VT 05401
  1. 1
    Product name21 CFR 139.110, 139.150
    Dried pasta uses its FDA name, set by shape: "spaghetti" for cords 0.06 to 0.11 inch thick, "macaroni" for tubes up to 0.27 inch, "egg noodles" for ribbons made with egg. An Italian shape name or your brand can sit above it.
  2. 2
    Net weight21 CFR 101.7
    Ounces and grams in the bottom 30% of the front: NET WT 12 OZ (340g). From 1 lb up, add the pounds: NET WT 16 OZ (1 LB) 454g.
  3. 3
    Nutrition Facts21 CFR 101.9(b)(9), (h)(4)
    Per serving of dry pasta, the way you sell it, not cooked. FDA allows an extra column for the cooked pasta when the label gives cooking directions, but the dry values are the ones you must show.
  4. 4
    Ingredient list21 CFR 101.4
    Heaviest first. Enriched flour or enriched semolina shows its added vitamins and iron in parentheses, as in the sample.
  5. 5
    Allergen statementFALCPA
    Semolina, durum and farina are all wheat, so nearly every pasta says Contains wheat. Egg noodles add egg; a spinach or basil pasta usually adds nothing.
  6. 6
    Name and address21 CFR 101.5
    Who made or packed it, with city, state and ZIP. Selling a co-packer's pasta under your brand? Use "Made for" or "Distributed by".Co-Packer →
Pasta rules

Things that are different for pasta

56 gServing size: 2 oz of dry pastaThe reference amount for plain pasta is 55 g dry or 140 g cooked. Bulk dry pasta like spaghetti or noodles may show 2 oz (56 g) with a visual unit of measure next to the grams. Short shapes go by the cup, big ones like lasagna sheets by the piece.21 CFR 101.12(b)
87%Dried means driedMacaroni and noodle products are made by drying the dough, and the finished pasta is at least 87% solids: 13% moisture at most. Weigh the batch after drying and enter it as the weight after cooking. The tool takes the lost water out, so the numbers per serving go up.21 CFR 139.110(a), 139.150(a)
5.5%Egg noodles need real eggNoodles carry egg or egg yolk solids of at least 5.5% of their total solids. Our sample has about 14%: six eggs to four cups of flour. Plain macaroni and spaghetti may only use egg white, at 0.5 to 2% of the finished weight.21 CFR 139.150(a), 139.110(a)(1)
EnrichedThe word enriched is a promise"Enriched spaghetti" or "enriched egg noodles" must land inside set ranges of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron per pound. Using enriched flour does not settle that, so check before you print the word. Our sample is sold as plain egg noodles.21 CFR 139.115, 139.155
FreshFresh and frozen pastaThe pasta standards describe dried pasta. For fresh or frozen pasta, the serving is the amount that cooks up to 140 g: cook one portion, weigh it, and work back to the raw weight.21 CFR 101.12(b), (c)
< 20 ppmGluten-free pastaRice, corn or chickpea pasta may say gluten-free when the finished pasta has less than 20 ppm gluten. The tool shows the allergens from your recipe but does not check claims.21 CFR 101.91FDA Gluten-Free Label Requirements →
Sizes

Pasta bags and boxes and the label that fits

Clear bags show off the pasta, so the label is often a sticker on the back. Measure the flat space, then try the styles in the tool.

PackageTypical label areaStyle that usually fits
8 oz cello bag3 × 3 inStandard (vertical)
12 oz bag3.5 × 4 inStandard (vertical)Our example
16 oz box5 × 2.5 in side panelTabular (wide)
Gift tube of long pasta4 × 1.5 inSmall package (linear)
Sample recipe included

Start from egg noodles that are already filled in

Flour, eggs and a pinch of salt, rolled, cut into wide ribbons and dried. The label uses the batch weight after drying, 20.7 oz, which leaves the noodles at about 12% moisture. Switch the flour for semolina and the ingredient list follows; leave out the eggs and you are making plain pasta, not noodles.

Start with this recipe
IngredientAmountUnit
Unbleached all-purpose flour✓ USDA match4cups
Eggs✓ USDA match6large
Salt✓ USDA match1/2tsp
Makes about 1 1/4 lb driedServing 2 oz (56 g), about 1/6 of the package
Questions

Pasta label questions

For dry pasta the reference amount is 55 g. Long pasta and noodles are usually shown as 2 oz (56 g), short shapes as a cup measure with grams, and large shapes like lasagna sheets as pieces. Weigh your own shape: a cup of elbows and a cup of shells are not the same weight.

Related pages

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