Linear Display: FDA Nutrition Facts format
Single line format for limited space. An FDA Nutrition Facts layout under 21 CFR 101.9, generated free with correct rounding and Daily Values.
Reviewed against 21 CFR 101.9 (Nutrition labeling of food) · Page updated September 16, 2026
Nutrition labelling requirements for Linear Display
Packaged food sold in the United States must carry a nutrition declaration under 21 CFR 101.9 (Nutrition labeling of food). This page covers the Linear Display format: Single line format for limited space. A compliant nutrition label declares 15 mandatory nutrients: calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars, protein, vitamin d, calcium, iron and potassium. Values are declared per serving, with serving sizes set by the racc tables in 21 cfr 101.12, with energy in kcal, and sodium rather than salt. The panel is headed "Nutrition Facts". English is required on pack. There is no mandatory front-of-pack warning scheme. NFL builds a print-ready nutrition label from your recipe, applying the rounding rules and reference intakes for the United States automatically, and exports it as PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG or EPS.
Official regulation
Key facts
When to use the linear display Nutrition Facts label
The linear display is an FDA Nutrition Facts format, in force under 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13), for small and intermediate-sized packages. It is not a free design choice. Its use depends on how much surface area the package has available for labeling.
For a package with 40 square inches or less of total surface area available for labeling, the linear format may be used when the label cannot hold the nutrition information in a tabular display. It is a voluntary option that the rule makes available only when the space conditions are met.
Packages with less than 12 square inches available for labeling get extra flexibility. They may leave the nutrition panel off altogether, provided they make no nutrient content or health claims and print an address or telephone number where consumers can get the information. If a panel is given anyway, the linear or small tabular format may be used.
Source: 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13), eCFR.
Linear display layout and type size rules
The linear format runs the Nutrition Facts information as one continuous string instead of stacking each nutrient in its own row. FDA's compliance guide shows the heading followed by servings, serving size, calories and the mandatory nutrient declarations in sequence, with amounts and percent Daily Values placed in the running text, using parentheses where needed.
The type size minimums for the linear display are mandatory:
- the calorie number at least 14 point, and the word "Calories" at least 10 point;
- the servings-per-container declaration at least 9 point, and FDA allows the shorter word "Servings" in this format; and
- "Serving size" in bold or extra bold type, at least 9 point.
Packages of 40 square inches or less may use the abbreviations FDA lists, such as "Serv. size", "Sat. fat", "Cholest.", "Total carb.", "Incl." and "Potas.". The linear display also leaves out the hairline that separates the heading from the rest of the panel in other formats, which saves space.
Source: FDA, Revision of the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels, Small Entity Compliance Guide.
What 21 CFR 101.9 still requires on a linear label
A linear layout does not remove any mandatory declaration. Serving information, calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars, protein and the required vitamins and minerals all stay mandatory, subject to the normal exemptions for the food.
The information is rearranged to save space, not replaced by a shorter statement. The abbreviations allowed for packages of 40 square inches or less, under 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13)(ii)(B), make the text shorter but do not make any nutrient optional.
Small packages may also put the linear panel on any label panel, not only the information panel, under the same small-package provisions in force.
How the linear format differs from other FDA formats
The standard vertical panel is the default in force under 21 CFR 101.9(d). The regular tabular display under 21 CFR 101.9(d)(11)(iii) is for packages that lack about 3 inches of continuous vertical space, on any package size. The linear format is narrower in scope: it belongs to the small-package rules in 21 CFR 101.9(j)(13) and applies only when a tabular display will not fit.
So the three formats are not interchangeable. Work through them in order: vertical first, then tabular if vertical space is short, then linear only for a qualifying small package that cannot take a tabular panel.
The language rule in 21 CFR 101.15 is mandatory for every format. Required label information must be in English, except for products distributed solely in Puerto Rico or another US territory where another language predominates. If the label makes any representation in another language, all required information must also appear in that language, and the linear format has no exemption from this.
Source: 21 CFR 101.9 and 21 CFR 101.15, eCFR.
Sources
Primary documents this page was written from, checked 2026-10-03.
How NFL handles it
- Applies the correct rounding rules for every nutrient
- Uses the right Daily Value / Reference Intake table for this jurisdiction
- Renders the required front-of-pack warnings automatically when thresholds are hit
- Handles multilingual labels where required (bilingual EN/FR, EN/ES, Arabic + EN, etc.)
- Exports print-ready vector PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG, and EPS
Deep dives
Common questions
Related formats
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How to generate one
- Open the generator: free account, no credit card
- Pick "Linear Display" from the format rail
- Enter your ingredients (search USDA FoodData Central or add a custom ingredient)
- The label renders live; export in one click