Updated 2026-09-12. This page is not legal advice.
An ingredient statement is the list of everything in the food. The federal rules are in 21 CFR 101.4. Most state cottage food laws point to the same rules.
What order do ingredients go in?
Heaviest first. Weigh each ingredient as it goes into the recipe, before baking. The ingredient with the most weight comes first, the one with the least weight comes last. Water counts. Volume does not count, so a cup of flour and a cup of sugar do not tie.
What name do I use for each ingredient?
The common or usual name. Write “sugar”, not “sucrose”. Write “butter”, not “dairy fat”. Copy the name from the package you bought. Most white flour is “enriched wheat flour”, and its package lists the added vitamins, which you copy too.
How do I list an ingredient that has its own ingredients?
Write its name, then its ingredients in parentheses. Chocolate chips become “chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla)”. Take the list from the package.
Can I group small ingredients at the end?
Yes. Ingredients that are 2 percent or less of the food may go at the end after the words “contains 2% or less of”. Inside that group the order does not matter.
How do I list spices, flavors, and colors?
You may write “spices”, “natural flavor”, or “artificial color” instead of naming each one, with a few exceptions. Colors that FDA certifies, such as Yellow 5 or Red 40, must be named. Salt is not a spice and must be listed as “salt”.
How do allergens fit in?
Each of the nine major allergens must be clear on the label. The nine are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. You can name them inside the list, or add a “Contains:” line after it. Tree nuts and fish must say which kind. See How to write the allergen statement.
What does a finished ingredient statement look like?
A chocolate chip cookie made from 300 g flour, 200 g chocolate chips, 200 g butter, 150 g brown sugar, 100 g eggs, 100 g sugar, 5 g vanilla, 5 g baking soda, and 3 g salt:
Ingredients: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, eggs, sugar, contains 2% or less of: vanilla extract, baking soda, salt.
Contains: wheat, soy, milk, eggs.
What mistakes do people make most?
- Ordering by cups instead of by weight.
- Writing “flour” when the bag says “enriched bleached wheat flour”.
- Leaving out the sub-ingredients of a mix or a chip.
- Writing a “Contains:” line that misses an allergen. If you use the line, it must name every major allergen in the food.