NOM-051 (octagon warnings): Mexico nutrition label
NOM-051 (octagon warnings), the Mexican nutrition label under NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010 (Modificación 2020, DOF 27/03/2020), 10 mandatory nutrients, per 100 g or 100 ml and per serving, both columns required, Spanish on pack. Generate a compliant label free.
Reviewed against NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010 (Modificación 2020, DOF 27/03/2020) · Page updated August 26, 2026
Nutrition labelling requirements in Mexico
Packaged food sold in Mexico must carry a nutrition declaration under NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010 (Modificación 2020, DOF 27/03/2020). This page covers the Mexico - NOM-051 (octagon warnings) format: Auto-computes octagons per PAHO Nutrient Profile Model. A compliant Mexican nutrition label declares 10 mandatory nutrients: contenido energético, proteínas, grasas totales, grasas saturadas, grasas trans, hidratos de carbono, azúcares, azúcares añadidos, fibra dietética and sodio. Values are declared per 100 g or 100 ml and per serving, both columns required, with energy in both kcal and kJ, and sodium rather than salt. The panel is headed "Información Nutrimental". Spanish is required on pack. Front-of-pack warnings apply. The required scheme is black octagon. NFL builds a print-ready Mexican nutrition label from your recipe, applying the rounding rules and reference intakes for Mexico automatically, and exports it as PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG or EPS.
Official regulation
Key facts
Rounding + threshold rules (sample)
- Phase 2 solids: sugars ≥ 10 %E, sat fat ≥ 10 %E, trans ≥ 1 %E, sodium ≥ 1 mg/kcal
- Beverages: sugars ≥ 5 %E (vs 10 %E for solids)
The three phases of the 2020 modification and the 31 July 2025 acuerdo
The 2020 text did not switch on all at once. Transitory article First made the front-of-pack clauses (4.5.3.4 to 4.5.3.4.7, plus the legends in 7.1.3 and 7.1.4) mandatory from 1 October 2020; the rest, including the revised nutrition declaration and the cartoon rule in 4.1.5, applied from 1 April 2021.
Transitory article Second split the seal calculation into three progressively stricter phases: originally Phase 1 from 1 October 2020, Phase 2 from 1 October 2023 and Phase 3 from 1 October 2025. That calendar has been rewritten twice by acuerdo. The first (DOF 9 May 2025) pushed Phase 3 to 1 January 2026. The second, published on 31 July 2025 and in force from 1 January 2026, replaced it: Phase 2 now runs to 31 December 2027 and Phase 3 begins on 1 January 2028, citing the cost of reformulating foods in government social-assistance baskets.
- Phase 1 (ended 30 September 2023): looser thresholds, for example sodium at 350 mg per 100 g.
- Phase 2 (in force until 31 December 2027): Table 6 thresholds apply, but only the nutrients linked to what was added are evaluated: added sugars trigger sugar and calories, added fat triggers saturated fat, trans fat and calories, added sodium triggers sodium only.
- Phase 3 (from 1 January 2028): clause 4.5.3 and Table 6 apply in full, so any product with added free sugars, fats or sodium is assessed against all five seals.
On 5 December 2025 the Secretaría de Economía also opened a 60-day consultation on PROY-NOM-051-SE/SSA1-2025, a proposal to rewrite clause 4.5.3. It is a proposal, not law; the 2020 text with the 2025 phase dates remains binding.
Source: Modificación a la NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010, DOF 27 March 2020, artículos transitorios; Acuerdo DOF 31 July 2025; Aviso de consulta pública PROY-NOM-051-SE/SSA1-2025, DOF 5 December 2025.
Warning seals and precautionary legends under NOM-051 clause 4.5.3 and Appendix A
Clause 4.5.3 requires seals on any pre-packaged food or non-alcoholic beverage that contains added free sugars, fats or sodium and meets the nutrient profiles in Table 6. When more than one applies they run left to right in a fixed order: EXCESO CALORÍAS, EXCESO AZÚCARES, EXCESO GRASAS SATURADAS, EXCESO GRASAS TRANS, EXCESO SODIO. Seals sit in the upper right corner of the principal display surface (anywhere on it for packs under 60 cm2). Two rectangular legends belong to the same system: "CONTIENE EDULCORANTES, NO RECOMENDABLE EN NIÑOS" whenever sweeteners appear in the ingredient list, and "CONTIENE CAFEÍNA EVITAR EN NIÑOS" for any amount of added caffeine. Legends go top right, beneath any seals.
As illustrative values, Table 6 flags solids at 275 kcal per 100 g, free sugars at 10 % or more of energy, saturated fat at 10 % of energy, trans fat at 1 % of energy, and sodium at 1 mg per kcal or 300 mg per 100 g; liquids use 70 kcal per 100 ml and calorie-free drinks get a sodium seal at 45 mg. Exempt are products exempt from the nutrition declaration (other than the small-pack case), infant and follow-on formulas, regulated foods for infants and young children, and staples such as vegetable oils, sugar, honey, iodised salt and cereal flours.
Appendix A fixes the artwork (black octagon, Arial Bold, the signature SECRETARÍA DE SALUD) and sizes each seal by principal display surface:
| Principal display surface | Each seal |
|---|---|
| 5 cm2 or less | at least 15 % of the surface |
| over 5 to 30 cm2 | 1.0 cm wide x 1.11 cm high |
| over 60 to 100 cm2 | 2.0 cm wide x 2.22 cm high |
| over 300 cm2 | 3.5 cm wide x 3.88 cm high |
Packs of 40 cm2 or less show one seal carrying the number of profiles exceeded; on returnable multi-flavour bottles that numbered seal goes on the cap.
The declaración nutrimental: per 100 g or 100 ml, Contenido energético and Azúcares añadidos
Clause 4.5.2 lists the mandatory nutrients: energy; protein; available carbohydrate, split into sugars and "azúcares añadidos"; fat, split into saturated and trans fat (excluding trans fat naturally present in dairy and meat ingredients); dietary fibre; sodium; and any nutrient about which a claim is made. Table 3 shows the model layout, headed "Por 100 g o 100 ml": Contenido energético, Proteínas, Grasas totales (Grasas saturadas, Grasas trans), Hidratos de carbono disponibles (Azúcares, Azúcares añadidos), Fibra dietética, Sodio. Trans fat and sodium are in mg, the rest in g.
The basis is per 100 g or 100 ml. Energy is given in kcal with kJ in brackets per 100 g or 100 ml and for the whole package; a per-portion column is permitted but not required. Vitamins and minerals are optional unless the product is compositionally modified; as a percentage they use the Mexican VNR table (Tabla 2) per portion, and only where a portion supplies at least 5 % of the VNR. Values must be weighted averages from analysis, databases or recognised tables. Table 5 offers optional rounding, for example energy above 50 kcal in multiples of 10 kcal.
- Font: at least 1.5 mm high, or 1 mm on packs with a principal display surface of 32 cm2 or less, on returnable bottles with the information on the cap, and where more than 20 nutrients are declared on 161 cm2 or less.
- Bold: energy, saturated fat, added sugars, trans fat and sodium, both the name and the amount.
- Exempt (if no claims are made): single-ingredient products, herbs and spices, plain coffee and tea, vinegars, water, and packs whose largest surface is under 78 cm2 if they print a phone number or web page where the declaration can be obtained.
Cartoon bans, claims on sealed products and enforcement by PROFECO and COFEPRIS
A seal changes what else the pack may say. Clause 4.1.5, in force since 1 April 2021, bars products carrying any warning seal or the sweetener legend from using children's characters, animations, cartoons, celebrities, athletes, mascots or interactive elements such as games and digital downloads that are aimed at children and encourage purchase or consumption. Clause 6.3 adds that such a product may make no health claim, no nutrition claim related to the seal it carries, and must confine other nutrition claims to the information surface at a letter height no larger than the NOM-030 minimum for net content. A pack with no seals may state "Este producto no contiene sellos ni leyendas" in plain text on the information surface only.
All mandatory information must be in Spanish; other languages may be added but never substitute. Section 8 assigns verification and surveillance to the Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (PROFECO) under the consumer protection law and to the Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COFEPRIS) under the Ley General de Salud, each within its own remit. The NOM is not certifiable: section 9 sets out a voluntary conformity assessment by accredited inspection bodies for producers or importers who want documented evidence of compliance. Build a Mexico label in the generator at #/app.
Sources
Primary documents this page was written from, checked 2026-09-16.
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
Common questions
Related formats
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How to generate one
- Open the generator: free account, no credit card
- Pick "Mexico - NOM-051 (octagon warnings)" from the format rail
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