§101.15. Food; prominence of required statements. — Inbound Citations

(c) All information appearing on the principal display panel or the information panel pursuant to this section shall appear prominently and conspicuously, but in no case may the letters and/or numbers be less than one-sixteenth inch in height unless an exemption pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section is established. The requirements for conspicuousness and legibility shall include the specifications of §§ 101.7(h)(1) and (2) and 101.15.

(i) Soft drinks packaged in bottles manufactured before October 31, 1975 shall be exempt from the requirements prescribed by this section to the extent that information which is blown, lithographed, or formed onto the surface of the bottle is exempt from the size and placement requirements of this section.

(ii) Soft drinks packaged in bottles shall be exempt from the size and placement requirements prescribed by this section if all of the following conditions are met:

(A) If the soft drink is packaged in a bottle bearing a paper, plastic foam jacket, or foil label, or is packaged in a nonreusable bottle bearing a label lithographed onto the surface of the bottle or is packaged in metal cans, the product shall not be exempt from any requirement of this section other than the exemptions created by § 1.24(a)(5) (ii) and (v) of this chapter and the label shall bear all required information in the specified minimum type size, except the label will not be required to bear the information required by § 101.5 if this information appears on the bottle closure or on the lid of the can in a type size not less than one-sixteenth inch in height, or if embossed on the lid of the can in a type size not less than one-eighth inch in height.

(B) If the soft drink is packaged in a bottle which does not bear a paper, plastic foam jacket or foil label, or is packaged in a reusable bottle bearing a label lithographed onto the surface of the bottle:

(1) Neither the bottle nor the closure is required to bear nutrition labeling in compliance with § 101.9, except that any multiunit retail package in which it is contained shall bear nutrition labeling if required by § 101.9; and any vending machine in which it is contained shall bear nutrition labeling if nutrition labeling is not present on the bottle or closure, if required by § 101.9.

(2) All other information pursuant to this section shall appear on the top of the bottle closure prominently and conspicuously in letters and/or numbers no less than one thirty-second inch in height, except that if the information required by § 101.5 is placed on the side of the closure in accordance with § 1.24(a)(5)(ii) of this chapter, such information shall appear in letters and/or numbers no less than one-sixteenth inch in height.

(3) Upon the petition of any interested person demonstrating that the bottle closure is too small to accommodate this information, the Commissioner may by regulation establish an alternative method of disseminating such information. Information appearing on the closure shall appear in the following priority:

(i) The statement of ingredients.

(ii) The name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor.

(iii) The statement of identity.

(2) Individual serving-size packages of food served with meals in restaurants, institutions, and on board passenger carriers, and not intended for sale at retail, are exempt from type-size requirements of this paragraph, provided:

(i) The package has a total area of 3 square inches or less available to bear labeling;

(ii) There is insufficient area on the package available to print all required information in a type size of 1/16 inch in height;

(iii) The information required by paragraph (b) of this section appears on the label in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, except that the type size is not less than 1/32 inch in height.

(14) In accordance with § 101.15(c)(2), when nutrition labeling must appear in a second language, the nutrition information may be presented in a separate nutrition label for each language or in one nutrition label with the information in the second language following that in English. Numeric characters that are identical in both languages need not be repeated (e.g., “Protein/Proteinas 2 g”). All required information must be included in both languages.