Nutrition Facts Panels

It is not required in some cases, for example some very small businesses or some selling under the Cottage Foods Act. However, it is never a bad idea to use one, even if it is not required.  

A lot of care goes into making sure we produce your NFP as accurately as possible. Often, this requires background research on ingredients or process steps you are using. When a producer submits multiple formulas for NFP production, there is usually overlap between ingredients and process steps, so the time and effort it takes us to produce subsequent NFPs drops considerably. 

We do not offer chemical analysis at the Food Innovation Center. Chemical nutrient analysis of foods costs about 10x the price of producing an NFP from a database. Here are some examples of situations where it might be worth the extra cost to perform a chemical analysis:

• • You are using a novel ingredient about which no database material or scientific literature exists, and for which there is no widely accepted nutritional equivalent 
  • You are a producer who grows or manufactures one or more of your ingredients yourself (a farm growing a unique type of vegetable, a flour mill making a specialty flour blend)
  • You want to make a claim on your label about a minor nutrient which the FDA does not require to appear on the label and which therefore may not have been included on your supplier’s spec sheets

No, CSU Spur does not perform chemical nutrient analysis, but here are some labs that can:

• Eurofins (https://www.eurofinsus.com/food-testing/)  
• Microbac (https://www.microbac.com/food)
• Alliance Analytical (https://aatestlabs.com/)  
• Midwest Laboratories (https://midwestlabs.com/food-ingredient)  
• Murray Brown laboratories (https://www.mb-labs.com/) 
• Medallion labs (https://www.medallionlabs.com/)  
• RL Food Testing Laboratories (https://www.rlfoodtestinglaboratory.com/)

The most recent updates to NFP requirements were released in 2016. Since this update, required nutrients have included:

• Calories 
• Total Fat 
• Saturated Fats 
• Trans Fats 
• Cholesterol 
• Sodium 
• Total Carbohydrates 
  • Dietary Fiber 
  • Total Sugars 
  • Added Sugars
• Protein 
• Vitamin D 
• Calcium 
• Iron 
• Potassium

Vitamins A and C were previously required, but are no longer required as of the 2016 update 

There are a few reasons. Often making NFPs involves the laborious process of entering data from spec sheets—many consumers value not having to do that themselves and would rather pay us to do it!  Also, some specialty ingredients require background research to make accurate estimates of nutrient content. Plus, some ingredients, recipes, or processes are more complex than others, and it may be necessary to calculate oil uptake, salinity change, water loss, nutrient degradation, etc. Finally, we can help you be compliant in terms of your serving sizes, formatting, and label claims. Recipal (or similar) is a great service, but it can be wildly inaccurate if it isn’t used properly. If people are not comfortable using it properly, that is when they come to us.

After we send you the completed NFP(s), our admin expert will reach out to you with an invoice, which you can pay through our website using the “Pay my Invoice” button.

Once the service is complete and we have sent you a final report, our admin expert will send you an invoice. We request that you pay your invoice within 30 days using the “Pay an Invoice” button at the top of this page. If a payment is not made within 30 days, our admin expert will follow up with you. 

We will produce the NFP of the overall size and specific font size and formatting that is required for your packaging size. All NFPs we produce will be black text on a white background using Helvetica font. The FDA does allow some other text and color options in some cases. If you or your graphic designer choose to alter the NFP we produce in any way, it is your responsibility to ensure that your changes are compliant with FDA regulations. Use the links in the Resources section above to find specific regulations.  

No. If you need one, you can hire a private graphic designer or hire an Arts student from CSU or CU Denver, which is often cheaper. Use this  this website to post a job to CU Denver Arts and Media students and use this website to post a job to CSU students (not department-specific).