Updated 2026-09-16. This page is not legal advice.
How do I get grams per serving?
Weigh the whole finished batch. Divide by the number of servings. A sheet of 24 cookies that weighs 720 g after baking gives 30 g per cookie. Weigh after cooking, not before. Water leaves the food in the oven, so the raw weight is higher than the weight the customer gets.
The Serving Size Calculator does this division, converts to ounces, and divides your batch totals for calories and nutrients by the number of servings with FDA rounding.
Who chooses the number of servings?
For a packaged food sold at retail, FDA does. The rule in 21 CFR 101.9(b) says the serving size must come from the Reference Amount Customarily Consumed, or RACC, for the food category. The reference amounts are listed in 21 CFR 101.12(b). A few that small makers use often, read from the eCFR on 2026-09-16:
| Food | Reference amount |
|---|---|
| Cookies | 30 g |
| Brownies | 40 g |
| Bread and rolls | 50 g |
| Muffins, bagels | 110 g |
| Doughnuts, sweet rolls, coffee cake, sweet quick breads | 55 g |
| Cake, medium weight (leavened cake with or without icing, cupcakes) | 80 g |
| Cake, heavyweight (cheesecake, fruit cake) | 125 g |
| Cake, light weight (angel food, sponge, no icing) | 55 g |
| Pies, cobblers, fruit crisps, turnovers | 125 g |
| Granola bars and other grain-based bars | 40 g |
| Hard candies | 15 g |
| All other candies (fudge, caramels, chocolates) | 30 g |
| Nuts, seeds, and mixes | 30 g |
| Honey, jams, jellies, fruit butter | 1 tbsp |
If your small business is exempt from nutrition labeling, none of this binds you. Read do cottage foods need a Nutrition Facts label for the exemption. If you print a panel anyway, use the reference amount. A buyer who compares your cookie with a store cookie expects the same serving.
How does the reference amount become a serving size?
For food in pieces, such as cookies, muffins, and slices, 21 CFR 101.9(b)(2)(i) gives four cases. Weigh one piece and compare it with the reference amount.
- One piece weighs 50 percent or less of the reference amount: the serving is the number of whole pieces closest to the reference amount. A 12 g cookie against 30 g gives 3 cookies (36g).
- One piece weighs more than 50 percent but less than 67 percent: you may declare one piece or two. An 18 g cookie can be 1 cookie (18g) or 2 cookies (36g).
- One piece weighs 67 percent or more but less than 200 percent: the serving is one piece. A 45 g cookie is 1 cookie (45g).
- One piece weighs 200 percent to 300 percent: the serving is the amount that approximates the reference amount, and the label must add a second column with the values for the whole piece. A 75 g cookie needs both.
For food you scoop or pour, such as granola, candy, or jam, the serving is the household measure that comes closest to the reference amount. Measure a level 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, or 1 cup of the food and weigh it. Pick the measure whose weight is closest to the reference amount.
What about a single package?
A package that holds less than 200 percent of the reference amount is one serving. The whole package is the serving size, whatever it weighs. A 55 g bag of granola bites, against a 40 g reference amount, is one serving of 55 g. A package that holds 200 percent to 300 percent needs the dual-column label with per-serving and per-package values.
How do I write the serving size line?
Household measure first, then the metric weight in parentheses: “2 cookies (32g)”, “1 muffin (95g)”, “1/4 cup (30g)”. Round the gram figure to the nearest whole gram. Between 2 g and 5 g, round to the nearest 0.5 g. Under 2 g, use 0.1 g steps. You may add ounces after the grams. The line goes directly under “servings per container”, in larger bold type than the nutrient lines.
What can go wrong?
- Weighing the raw batch. Baked goods lose water in the oven, so the label overstates the serving.
- Rounding the serving to a nice number. The gram figure comes from the scale, not from a wish.
- Counting servings per container from the recipe yield instead of the package. If the recipe makes 24 cookies and you sell bags of 6, the container has 3 servings of 2 cookies.
- Using a cup measure for a dense food without weighing it. Two people fill a cup differently. The gram figure in parentheses is the one that binds you.
Once you have grams per serving, the Serving Size Calculator gives the per-serving nutrients from your batch totals, and the Nutrition Label Maker prints the panel.