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Regulation

Philippines FDA Nutrition Label Requirements

FDA Nutrition Facts, the Philippine nutrition label under BFAD/FDA Regulation No. 2014-030, 9 mandatory nutrients, per serving as sold, English on pack. Generate a compliant label free.

Reviewed against BFAD/FDA Regulation No. 2014-030 · Page updated August 16, 2026

Jurisdiction
Philippines (packaged food sold at retail)
Regulation
BFAD/FDA Regulation No. 2014-030
Effective
1 January 2015
Official source
www.fda.gov.ph
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Nutrition labelling requirements in the Philippines

Packaged food sold in the Philippines must carry a nutrition declaration under BFAD/FDA Regulation No. 2014-030. This page covers the Philippines - FDA Nutrition Facts format: English format per BFAD/FDA Reg 2014-030. A compliant Philippine nutrition label declares 9 mandatory nutrients: calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars and protein. Values are declared per serving as sold, 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 Philippine nutrition label from your recipe, applying the rounding rules and reference intakes for the Philippines automatically, and exports it as PDF, PNG, SVG, JPG or EPS.

Official regulation

Citation
BFAD/FDA Regulation No. 2014-030
Effective
1 January 2015
Scope
Philippines (packaged food sold at retail)
Source

Key facts

Mandatory nutrients (9)
Calories, Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Sugars and Protein
Declaration basis
Per serving as sold
Energy units
kcal
Sodium or salt
Declared as sodium, not salt
Panel heading
Nutrition Facts
Label language
English required on pack
Front of pack
No mandatory front-of-pack warning scheme

AO 2014-0030 Section VI.A.11: what the Nutrition Facts table must show

Administrative Order No. 2014-0030, signed by the Secretary of Health on 8 September 2014, lists eleven items of minimum mandatory information for every prepackaged food, including food supplements, and item 11 is "Nutrition Facts/Nutrition Information/Nutritive Value". Nutrition labelling is therefore mandatory by default; a product escapes it only through the exemptions in Section VI.A.11.h.

Section VI.A.11.a requires a tabulated declaration following Figure 1. The sample panel is headed "Nutrition Facts", opens with "Serving Size" and "No. of Servings per container/pack", and has an "Amount per Serving" column and a percentage column. The rows run in this order:

  • Calories (kcal), with Calories from Fat alongside
  • Total Fat (g), then indented Saturated fat (g), Trans Fat (g) and Cholesterol (mg)
  • Sodium (mg)
  • Total Carbohydrates (g), then indented Dietary Fiber (g) and Sugar (g)
  • Total Protein (g)

Section VI.A.11.c fixes the units: carbohydrate, protein, fat, sugar and fibre to the nearest gram, cholesterol and sodium in milligrams, energy in Calories (kcal), vitamins and minerals in mg or mcg, with International Units for vitamins A, D and E. Added vitamin A, iron and iodine join the table for products under the Food Fortification Program, as does any other nutrient the label claims.

Source: DOH Administrative Order No. 2014-0030, Section VI.A.11 and Figure 1.

Per-serving declaration and the %RENI to %REI/RNI switch under FDA Circular 2023-009

Section VI.A.11.b of AO 2014-0030 fixes the basis: nutrient quantities are declared "in relation to the average or usual serving in terms of slices, pieces or a specified weight or volume". No per 100 g column is required. Section VI.A.11.c allows units per serving, a percentage of the reference intake, or both, but makes the percentage compulsory, in whole numbers, for locally manufactured products sold locally. Nutrients below 2 percent of the reference are shown as "contains less than 2%" or by an asterisk pointing to that statement (Section VI.A.11.e).

The reference values changed in 2023. AO 2014-0030 used the 2002 Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intakes (RENI). FDA Circular No. 2023-009, signed 6 September 2023, adopts the 2015 Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes and replaces %RENI with %REI/RNI on all prepackaged processed food. It requires:

  • the statement "Based on PDRI 2015" in the Nutrition Facts or Nutrition Information table
  • computation on male, 19 to 29 years for the general population (Annex A gives 2,530 kcal, 71 g protein and 12 mg iron for that group) and on children 6 to 9 years for children's products, with the age group declared below the table
  • for products aimed at several age groups, the group with the highest values
  • iron on male values unless the product is intended for women; fibre on 25 g for adults
  • sodium on the WHO 2012 guideline, since PDRI 2015 has no sodium RNI; WHO recommends under 2,000 mg a day for adults

The circular took effect 15 days after publication. Holders of a Certificate of Product Registration expiring within two years of effectivity file a compliant application when the registration expires, and may exhaust existing label stock for at most six months after that, with an inventory submitted to FDA.

Source: AO 2014-0030, Section VI.A.11.b to e; FDA Circular No. 2023-009; Annex A, PDRI 2015 summary tables; WHO salt reduction fact sheet.

Tolerances, language and exemptions in AO 2014-0030

Section VI.A.11.g sets the accuracy rule. Declared values must be weighted averages from analyses of representative product, and actual content may never fall below 80 percent of the declared value during the shelf life. Without a nutrition or health claim, the tolerance is 80 to 120 percent of the declared value for energy, fat and carbohydrate, and a minimum of 80 percent for protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Section VI.B.2 governs language: all label information must be in English or Filipino or a combination. Imported products labelled in a foreign language must always carry the English translation. When FDA has allowed old labels to be exhausted, a durable single provisional translation sticker is permitted for no more than six months.

The nutrition labelling exemptions in Section VI.A.11.h include:

  • packages with less than 10 cm2 of available label space, such as a pack of gum, provided no health or nutrition claim is made
  • individually wrapped units under 10 cm2 (the order cites candies) sold inside a labelled primary pack
  • foods with insignificant amounts of all listed nutrients, such as coffee, most spices, flavour extracts and food colours, as determined by FDA
  • bulk materials for further manufacturing, and food sold from bulk containers with nutrition information at point of sale, except products covered by the Food Fortification Act (RA 8976)
  • bottled water, alcoholic beverages, infant and follow-up formula, and foods for special dietary or medical purposes, which follow their own standards

Source: AO 2014-0030, Sections VI.A.11.g, VI.A.11.h and VI.B.2.

Front-of-pack status and the sweetened beverage addendum, AO 2014-0030-A

The Philippines has no mandatory or official voluntary front-of-pack nutrition scheme. The topic is in policy development: on 21 May 2026 DOST-FNRI and the National Nutrition Council held a consultative workshop in Quezon City, supported by the Department of Health, UNICEF and WHO, on possible front-of-pack approaches, and a Philippine study will test how label formats affect consumer understanding. WHO is also supporting a Philippine Nutrient Profile Model as the technical reference for any future scheme. WHO describes the process as continuing discussion with no system chosen, so a front-of-pack graphic remains a voluntary addition that must satisfy the claims rules in Section V.F of AO 2014-0030.

The order was amended by Administrative Order No. 2014-0030-A of 25 October 2018, which inserts item 5 in Section VI.B for sweetened beverages: the label must state the type of sweetener used, and powdered products the number of litres per pack. Registered products could use old labels until 31 December 2019, and applications filed from 1 December 2019 had to comply.

Source: WHO Western Pacific, front-of-pack labelling in the Philippines (28 May 2026); DOH Administrative Order No. 2014-0030-A; AO 2014-0030, Section V.F.

Enforcement: FDA Philippines, RA 9711, the Food Safety Act (RA 10611) and the Consumer Act (RA 7394)

Section IX of AO 2014-0030 makes any breach of the order misbranding under Republic Act No. 9711 (the FDA Act), with the sanctions of RA 3720 as amended. Section X gave registered products a non-extendible 12 months to exhaust old labels; after that, non-compliant products "shall thereafter be deemed misbranded".

The Food Safety Act of 2013 (RA 10611) places processed and prepackaged food, local or imported, under the Department of Health (Section 15(b)), which acts through FDA. Section 12(b) requires imported food to pass DOH inspection and clearance at the first port of entry before the Bureau of Customs assesses duties. Section 37(e) makes it unlawful to misbrand, mislabel or falsely advertise any food, and Section 38 fines a first conviction PHP 50,000 to 100,000 with a one-month suspension of authorisation, rising to PHP 200,000 to 300,000 and six months for a third conviction, doubled for an operator without authorisation.

The Consumer Act (RA 7394) is the statutory floor: Article 84(c) lets the health department require "nutritive value" on food and Article 85(e) lets it set small-package exemptions. Build a Philippine label in the generator.

Source: AO 2014-0030, Sections IX and X; Republic Act No. 10611; Republic Act No. 7394.

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

Is a Nutrition Facts panel mandatory on packaged food in the Philippines?
Yes. Administrative Order No. 2014-0030 lists Nutrition Facts/Nutrition Information/Nutritive Value as item 11 of the minimum mandatory label information for all prepackaged food, local or imported. Only the products listed in Section VI.A.11.h are exempt, such as packs with less than 10 cm2 of label space that make no claims, bottled water, alcoholic beverages and foods with insignificant nutrient content.
Does the Philippines use per 100 g or per serving on the nutrition label?
Per serving. AO 2014-0030 Section VI.A.11.b requires every nutrient quantity to be declared in relation to the average or usual serving, described as slices, pieces or a specified weight or volume, with the serving size and number of servings per pack stated at the top of the table. A per 100 g column is not required.
What is %REI/RNI and do I still use %RENI on a Philippine label?
FDA Circular No. 2023-009 replaced %RENI (the 2002 Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intakes) with %REI/RNI from the 2015 Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes. The panel must carry the statement Based on PDRI 2015, the general-population reference is male aged 19 to 29, and products for children use the 6 to 9 year reference. Labels registered under the old basis move over when the Certificate of Product Registration is renewed, with up to six months to exhaust old stock.
Which nutrients are required on a Philippines nutrition label under AO 2014-0030?
Energy (kcal, with calories from fat), total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fibre, sugar and protein, in that order, per Figure 1 of the order. Products under the Food Fortification Program add vitamin A, iron and iodine, and any other nutrient the label claims must be added to the table.
Can a Philippine food label be in English only, or must it include Filipino?
English alone is acceptable. Section VI.B.2 of AO 2014-0030 allows English, Filipino or a combination for all label information. Imported products whose labels are in another language must always carry the English translation, and a provisional translation sticker is allowed for at most six months when FDA has permitted old labels to be used up.
What tolerance does FDA Philippines allow between declared and actual nutrient values?
Under Section VI.A.11.g the actual nutrient content must never be below 80 percent of the declared value during the shelf life. Where no nutrition or health claim is made, energy, fat and carbohydrate may range from 80 to 120 percent of the declared value, and protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals must be at least 80 percent. Declared values should be weighted averages from analysis of representative product.
Does the Philippines require front-of-pack warning labels on food?
No. There is no mandatory front-of-pack scheme and no official format has been chosen. Front-of-pack labelling is in a policy development phase led by DOST-FNRI and the National Nutrition Council, with a consultative workshop held on 21 May 2026 and a nutrient profile model under development with WHO support. Any front-of-pack graphic used today is a voluntary claim and must follow the claims rules in AO 2014-0030.
What happens if a Philippine food label does not comply with AO 2014-0030?
The product is deemed misbranded under RA 9711 and FDA can apply the sanctions in RA 3720 as amended. Under the Food Safety Act (RA 10611) misbranding or mislabelling is a prohibited act, with fines starting at PHP 50,000 to 100,000 and a one-month suspension of authorisation for a first conviction. Imported food is inspected by DOH at the first port of entry before customs clearance, so non-compliant shipments can be refused there.

How to generate one

  • Open the generator: free account, no credit card
  • Pick "Philippines - FDA Nutrition Facts" from the format rail
  • Enter your ingredients (search USDA FoodData Central or add a custom ingredient)
  • The label renders live; export in one click

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