FDA Rounding Rules for Nutrition Labels: 21 CFR 101
FDA rounding rules for Nutrition Facts labels explained with nutrient-by-nutrient increments, %DV rounding, serving rules and worked examples.
Source: 21 CFR 101.9(b), (c) and (d), read on eCFR; Daily Values from the 2016 final rule. Reviewed 2 September 2026.
FDA rounding rules require every number on a US Nutrition Facts label to use the increments prescribed in 21 CFR 101.9(c). You cannot simply choose the number of decimal places that looks most accurate. Calories round to the nearest 5 or 10, fats use 0.5 g increments below 5 g, sodium uses 5 mg or 10 mg increments, and other nutrients follow their own rules.
Use the wrong increment and the label can be technically misbranded even when the underlying nutrient analysis is correct. This guide covers the nutrition label rounding rules nutrient by nutrient, including %DV, serving information and worked examples.
Why FDA rounding rules exist
FDA rounding rules help ensure that products with the same analytical nutrient values display comparable numbers.
Without prescribed increments, one granola brand could round 96 calories to 95 while a competitor rounds the same value to 100. Consumers would then be comparing differences created by arithmetic rather than differences in the foods.
The increments also recognize analytical reality. Laboratory methods and nutrient database calculations both carry variance, so a declaration such as 97 calories can imply a level of precision that does not exist.
FDA's compliance program then compares declared values with laboratory analysis of market samples. Class I nutrients, meaning added vitamins and minerals, must be present at 100% or more of the declared amount. Class II naturally occurring nutrients must reach at least 80%.
FDA rounding rules for nutrition labeling, nutrient by nutrient
| Nutrient | Declare as zero | Middle band | Upper band | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | Under 5 | 5 to 50: nearest 5 | Above 50: nearest 10 | 101.9(c)(1) |
| Total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated | Under 0.5 g | 0.5 g to under 5 g: nearest 0.5 g | 5 g and above: nearest 1 g | 101.9(c)(2) |
| Cholesterol | Under 2 mg | 2 mg to 5 mg: "less than 5 mg" | Above 5 mg: nearest 5 mg | 101.9(c)(3) |
| Sodium | Under 5 mg | 5 mg to 140 mg: nearest 5 mg | Above 140 mg: nearest 10 mg | 101.9(c)(4) |
| Potassium | Under 5 mg | 5 mg to 140 mg: nearest 5 mg | Above 140 mg: nearest 10 mg | 101.9(c)(8) |
| Total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble fiber, total sugars, added sugars, sugar alcohols | Under 0.5 g | 0.5 g to under 1 g: "less than 1 g" | 1 g and above: nearest 1 g | 101.9(c)(6) |
| Protein | Under 0.5 g | 0.5 g to under 1 g: "less than 1 g" | 1 g and above: nearest 1 g | 101.9(c)(7) |
| Vitamins and minerals (amount) | May be 0 or "less than 2% DV" when under 2% DV | Declared in the units of 101.9(c)(8)(iv) (mcg, mg, mcg RAE, mcg DFE) | Increment follows the %DV ladder below | 101.9(c)(8) |
| % Daily Value, macronutrients | – | Nearest whole percent | – | 101.9(d)(7)(ii) |
| % Daily Value, vitamins and minerals | Under 2%: 0, or "less than 2% of the Daily Value" for D, calcium, iron, potassium | 2% to 10%: nearest 2%; above 10% to 50%: nearest 5% | Above 50%: nearest 10% | 101.9(c)(8)(iii) |
There are two important points the table does not show.
First, "declare as zero" is a rounding result, not a nutrient content claim. A product containing 0.4 g saturated fat may print 0 g on the Nutrition Facts panel, but it cannot necessarily claim "saturated fat free." That claim must independently meet the requirements in 101.62.
Second, these increments apply to the per-serving value after the recipe has been divided into servings.
On a dual-column label, the per-serving and per-container values are calculated and rounded independently. The numbers in the two columns therefore will not always be exact multiples of each other.
There is also an important difference between nutrient groups. Fats retain half-gram precision below 5 g, while carbohydrates and protein move from "less than 1 g" to whole grams.
A cookie containing 3.7 g fat therefore declares 3.5 g, while the same 3.7 g amount of protein declares 4 g.
Nutrition label rounding rules for vitamins, minerals and %DV
Percent Daily Value follows a separate rounding ladder under § 101.9(c)(8)(iii).
Vitamin and mineral %DVs are declared:
- To the nearest 2% increment up to 10% DV.
- To the nearest 5% increment above 10% through 50% DV.
- To the nearest 10% increment above 50% DV.
A multigrain bread supplying 23% of the iron Daily Value therefore declares 25%, not 23%.
Amounts below 2% of the Daily Value may be declared as zero or handled using the "Contains less than 2% of the Daily Value" statement for the four mandatory micronutrients: vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium.
For macronutrient %DV, values are rounded to the nearest whole percent.
Our DV calculator applies the appropriate rounding ladder for each nutrient.
FDA rounding rules: worked examples
- 96 calories → above 50, round to nearest 10 → declare 100.
- 47 calories → between 5 and 50, round to nearest 5 → declare 45.
- 0.4 g trans fat → below 0.5 g → declare 0 g. This is why "0 g trans fat" can legally appear alongside "partially hydrogenated oil" in an ingredient list.
- 3 mg cholesterol → declare "less than 5 mg".
- 143 mg sodium → above 140 mg, round to nearest 10 → declare 140 mg.
- 0.8 g dietary fiber → declare "less than 1 g", or 1 g if you prefer because it rounds there. The "less than" wording is the safer reading of the rule for amounts below 1 g.
Calculate %DV from the rounded or unrounded amount?
101.9(d)(7)(ii) permits either method.
You may calculate percent Daily Value from the nutrient amount declared on the label after rounding, or from the actual amount before rounding, as long as you use the same basis throughout the panel.
Most generators, including this one, calculate %DV from the unrounded amount.
That is why two Nutrition Facts labels can each declare 1 g dietary fiber but legitimately show different percentages, such as 3% and 4%.
Whichever basis you choose, the resulting percentage is then rounded using the appropriate method: nearest whole percent for calorie-bearing nutrients and the 2 / 5 / 10 ladder for vitamins and minerals.
FDA rounding rules for serving size and servings per container
The serving-size line does not use the rounding rules in 101.9(c). It is governed by 101.9(b).
The household measure comes from the Reference Amount Customarily Consumed in 101.12. The metric amount in parentheses is rounded to the nearest whole gram or milliliter, except that amounts below 5 g may be shown to the nearest 0.5 g and very small amounts may be shown to the nearest 0.1 g.
Servings per container also has its own rules.
It rounds to the nearest whole number. Between 2 and 5 servings, it rounds to the nearest 0.5. When the number cannot be stated exactly, it is presented as "about 3" or the applicable rounded amount.
A package containing 200% to 300% of the reference amount that could be consumed in one sitting must use the dual-column format. The per-serving and per-container nutrient values are then rounded independently.
Complete FDA nutrition label rounding example
Consider a chocolate chip cookie recipe analyzed per 28 g serving. Before rounding, it contains:
141.6 kcal, 7.3 g fat, 3.6 g saturated fat, 0.1 g trans fat, 11.4 mg cholesterol, 93.7 mg sodium, 17.8 g carbohydrate, 0.9 g fiber, 9.8 g total sugars of which 9.1 g are added, 1.8 g protein, 0.2 mcg vitamin D, 11.4 mg calcium, 0.82 mg iron and 45 mg potassium.
| Line | Analysed | Declared | %DV (from unrounded) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 141.6 | 140 | – |
| Total Fat | 7.3 g | 7 g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 3.6 g | 3.5 g | 18% |
| Trans Fat | 0.1 g | 0 g | – |
| Cholesterol | 11.4 mg | 10 mg | 4% |
| Sodium | 93.7 mg | 95 mg | 4% |
| Total Carbohydrate | 17.8 g | 18 g | 6% |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.9 g | less than 1 g | 3% |
| Total Sugars | 9.8 g | 10 g | – |
| Includes Added Sugars | 9.1 g | 9 g | 18% |
| Protein | 1.8 g | 2 g | – |
| Vitamin D | 0.2 mcg | 0 mcg | 0% |
| Calcium | 11.4 mg | 10 mg | 0% |
| Iron | 0.82 mg | 0.8 mg | 4% |
| Potassium | 45 mg | 45 mg | 0% |
Every declared amount in the table comes from the nutrient-specific ladder in the first table.
Each %DV is calculated from the unrounded amount using the 2016 Daily Values: 78 g total fat, 20 g saturated fat, 300 mg cholesterol, 2,300 mg sodium, 275 g total carbohydrate, 28 g dietary fiber, 50 g added sugars, 20 mcg vitamin D, 1,300 mg calcium, 18 mg iron and 4,700 mg potassium.
The micronutrient results are then rounded using the 2 / 5 / 10 ladder.
Calcium at 0.9% of the Daily Value and potassium at 1% print as 0%. Iron at 4.6% rounds to the nearest 2% increment and prints 4%.
This is the recipe the generator opens with, so you can change an individual nutrient amount and see how the applicable rounding ladder changes the rendered declaration.
Canada, EU and UK nutrition labels round differently
The US FDA rounding rules do not transfer to other labeling regimes.
Canada's Food and Drug Regulations establish different thresholds for the same nutrients and calculate %DV against Canadian Daily Values. See the Canada requirements guide.
The EU and UK use the Commission's 2012 tolerance guidance. It rounds fat, carbohydrate, sugars and protein to the nearest 0.1 g below 10 g and nearest 1 g above, saturated fat to 0.1 g, salt to 0.01 g below 1 g, and expresses values per 100 g. See the EU guide and UK guide.
A label rounded under one regulatory system and reused under another can therefore be incorrect in both directions.
FDA rounding mistakes that actually get flagged
- Rounding before summing. Calculate total recipe nutrients from unrounded ingredient data, divide by the number of servings, then round once at the end. Rounding individual ingredients before summing compounds the error.
- Using whole-gram fat below 5 g. A value of 3.7 g fat should declare 3.5 g, not 4 g, because fat uses half-gram increments below 5 g.
- Calorie-fat consistency failures. Reviewers can sanity-check calories against declared fat, carbohydrate and protein. Small differences are normal because each line rounds independently, but a label showing 0 g fat and 45 calories from oil can draw questions.
- Ignoring the micronutrient %DV ladder. Raw percentages such as 23% or 47% should not simply be printed when the 2 / 5 / 10 rounding ladder applies.
These mistakes are easy to make when labels are built manually in spreadsheets.
The NFL label generator applies § 101.9(c) automatically. Enter the raw analytical or database values and the rendered label uses the compliant declaration for all 152 supported formats.
If you manage formulations through recipe management, the system keeps full precision internally and rounds only when the label is rendered, following the required order of operations.
For a wider walkthrough of the Nutrition Facts panel, see our complete label creation guide.
FDA rounding rules frequently asked questions
Can I declare more precise values than the FDA rounding rules allow?
No. The increments in 21 CFR 101.9(c) are mandatory rather than minimum precision requirements. Printing 97 calories or 3.7 g fat does not become compliant simply because those figures are closer to the analytical values. The amount must be expressed using the applicable FDA rounding increment.
Do FDA rounding rules differ for a Supplement Facts panel?
The same increment logic applies where nutrients overlap, but dietary supplements are governed by 21 CFR 101.36 and dietary ingredients have their own declaration conventions. See our adult supplement DV table article for the reference values used when calculating the applicable percentages.
What happens if my rounded Nutrition Facts label does not match a lab test?
FDA compliance checks compare laboratory results with the declared values using defined tolerances. Generally, naturally occurring beneficial nutrients have an 80% minimum, while calories, sugars, fats and sodium have a 20% excess ceiling. Correctly applying the rounding rules is part of keeping the declared values within those compliance parameters.
Skip the spreadsheet calculations by entering your raw nutrient values in the free NFL label generator. It applies the FDA nutrition label rounding rules and generates the correctly formatted declarations automatically.
