Re: 2% Rule - more from FDA website

January 16, 2010

Here's some more info straight from the " rule book " . It basically says that ALL

ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight. When they get down to

2% and below, they can be listed in any order, but must be listed. (Processing

aids don't have to be listed.)

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Sec. 101.4 Food; designation of ingredients.

(a)(1) Ingredients required to be declared on the label or labeling

of a food, including foods that comply with standards of identity,

except those ingredients exempted by Sec. 101.100, shall be listed by

common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight on

either the principal display panel or the information panel in

accordance with the provisions of Sec. 101.2, except that ingredients

in dietary supplements that are listed in the nutrition label in

accordance with Sec. 101.36 need not be repeated in the ingredient

list. Paragraph (g) of this section describes the ingredient list on

dietary supplement products.

(2) The descending order of predominance requirements of paragraph

(a)(1) of this section do not apply to ingredients present in amounts of

2 percent or less by weight when a listing of these ingredients is

placed at the end of the ingredient statement following an appropriate

quantifying statement, e.g., ``Contains -- percent or less of ------''

or ``Less than -- percent of ------.'' The blank percentage within the

quantifying statement shall be filled in with a threshold level of 2

percent, or, if desired, 1.5 percent, 1.0 percent, or 0.5 percent, as

appropriate. No ingredient to which the quantifying phrase applies may

be present in an amount greater than the stated threshold.

( The name of an ingredient shall be a specific name and not a

collective (generic) name, except that:

(1) Spices, flavorings, colorings and chemical preservatives shall

be declared according to the provisions of Sec. 101.22.

Liz

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