Allergen labelling for small US food businesses: FALCPA and the "Big 9" explained

If you sell food in the US, whether from a farmers market stall or a licensed home kitchen, allergen disclosure isn't optional. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), updated in 2023 to add sesame, requires the 9 major allergens to be clearly disclosed on anything sold pre-packaged. Get it wrong and you're not just risking a fine, you're risking someone's life.

The Big 9, every time

Milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame. Every ingredient list needs these called out clearly, whenever they're present, either in the ingredient list itself or in a separate "Contains" statement underneath.

The "Contains" statement format

US labelling convention favours a plain statement below the ingredient list: "Contains: Milk, Wheat, Eggs." This is different from the UK's bold-in-line approach, if you're used to Natasha's Law styling, note the format itself is different, not just the allergen count.

Cottage food law changes what applies to you

Here's the part that trips people up: if you're operating under your state's cottage food law rather than a licensed commercial kitchen, your state may layer its own labelling requirements on top of FALCPA, sometimes requiring a specific disclaimer like "Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the state." FALCPA is the federal floor, your state can add to it.

Ingredients listed by weight, always

Same principle as anywhere else: descending order of weight, not the order you happen to think of them. Wheat Flour before Sugar if there's more flour than sugar in the recipe.

Getting this right, recipe by recipe, state rule by state rule, is exactly the kind of thing that eats an evening. It's also exactly the kind of thing that shouldn't be rushed.