Nutrition Analysis: Database or Lab Testing?
Before you can print a panel, you need the numbers behind it. There are two ways to get them: calculate from a nutrient database, or send samples to a lab. Here is how they compare and which one your product needs.
Two accepted methods
The FDA does not require lab testing for a Nutrition Facts panel. It asks that your values be accurate and that you can back them up. You can reach accurate values by calculating from a trusted nutrient database or by paying a lab to analyze your finished product. Both are used every day.
Database analysis
Database analysis adds up the nutrients of each ingredient from a reliable source, most often the USDA FoodData Central database, scaled to how much you used. It is fast and low cost, and for a straightforward recipe with known ingredients it is accurate enough to label with.
It works best when your ingredients are standard and your recipe is consistent batch to batch. A cookie, a granola, a spice blend: these calculate cleanly.
Lab testing
A lab measures the finished food directly. It costs more, often a few hundred dollars per product, and takes time, but it captures what actually ended up in the food after cooking. It is the stronger choice when a product is hard to calculate.
- Highly variable ingredients, like produce that changes with the season
- Complex cooking that changes moisture or fat, like frying
- A nutrient claim you need to defend, like high protein or low sugar
- A buyer, retailer, or marketplace that requires lab analysis
Which one do you need?
For most cottage and small-batch foods sold direct, a careful database calculation is enough to make an honest panel. Move to lab testing when you make a nutrition claim, sell into a retailer that demands it, or make something too variable to calculate with confidence.
Start from the database
Nutripane builds your panel by database calculation, using USDA FoodData Central values for its ingredients, so you can get an honest panel without paying for a lab first. If you later need lab numbers for a claim or a retailer, the panel format stays the same. Treat any calculated panel as a solid estimate and verify it if a claim or a buyer depends on it.
Questions
Do I need lab testing to make a nutrition label?
Usually not. The FDA accepts nutrition values calculated from a reliable database, such as USDA FoodData Central, as long as they are accurate and you can support them. Lab testing is the better choice when you make a nutrient claim, sell to a retailer that requires it, or make a product too variable to calculate.
How much does a nutrition analysis cost?
Database calculation can be free or low cost, since it adds up published nutrient values for your ingredients. Laboratory analysis typically runs a few hundred dollars per product and takes longer, because a lab measures the finished food directly. Many small sellers start with database analysis.
Keep reading
This page is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food and food labeling rules vary by state and change over time. Confirm current requirements with your state's cottage food program and the FDA before you sell. See your state's rules or how to label your product.