Sauces

How to label flavored vinegar to sell

Vinegar is self-preserving, which makes it one of the safer things to bottle at home, but the labeling has a trap: acidity percentage is part of the product name for many vinegars, not an optional extra.

What flavored vinegar labels get wrong

Vinegar acidity is commonly declared as part of the name, for example “Red Wine Vinegar, 6% Acidity.” Standard table vinegar must be at least 4 percent.
Fresh fruit or herbs steeped in vinegar are ingredients and go in the list in weight order.
A shrub with added sugar is a different product from a plain infused vinegar, and the sugar goes on the panel as added sugar.
Sold by volume, so net contents in fluid ounces with the metric equivalent.
Wine and cider vinegars carry sulfites often enough that you should check your base vinegar's own label before writing yours.

Serving size

Vinegars and shrubs use a 15 g RACC, about one tablespoon. See the RACC lookup for how the FDA sets serving sizes.

Make your flavored vinegar label

The builder below is loaded with the sample flavored vinegar recipe. Swap in your own ingredients and amounts, pick your state, and export: the ingredient statement orders itself by weight, the Big-9 allergens are detected including the ones hiding in sub-ingredients, and your state's home-kitchen disclosure is added at the size it requires. Scaling into retail? The nutrition label maker computes the FDA panel from the same recipe for $9.

Edit this recipe below FDA Nutrition Facts panel ($9)

Make your flavored vinegar label

Loaded with the sample recipe above. Change anything; the label on the right rebuilds as you type.

Product name

This is your statement of identity, so use the common name of the food (“Strawberry Rhubarb Jam”). A brand name alone only works when it is obvious what the food is (21 CFR 101.3(b)).

Business name

Business address

IngredientsAuto-ordered by weight

Group minor ingredients at the end

Using a packaged product? Tap on its row to pull the sub-ingredients off the label automatically. Or type them yourself in parentheses, like “Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Cocoa, Cocoa Butter)”.

Allergens (FDA Big 9)

Auto-detected from your ingredients. Tap to add or remove. Always double-check.

This reads your ingredient list only. It cannot know what else your kitchen handles — a shared mixer, flour in the air, one fryer for two products. If an allergen you do not use could still reach this food, that is a “may contain” decision only you can make; it is voluntary, and it never substitutes for declaring an allergen you actually use.

Your state

Net weight

UPC barcode (optional)

This is unpasteurized juice or ciderAdds the exact warning 21 CFR 101.17(g) requires, bolded and boxed as (g)(5) and (g)(6) prescribe.

Package shape and size

Optional, but it sets how large the net weight has to print. 21 CFR 101.1 measures the principal display panel differently for each shape.

Live preview

Free

Your Product Name

INGREDIENTS: List your ingredients to auto-order them by weight.

Made in a home kitchen.

Label made with Panelry · getpanelry.com/label

Add product name, business name, business address, at least one ingredient, your state, net weight to export a complete label.

Need a Nutrition Facts panel too?

Most home makers are exempt from nutrition labeling under the FDA's small-seller exemption, but it holds only while the label, the listing and your ads carry no nutrition claim or nutrition information at all. One “low sugar” or “high protein” anywhere, including an online listing, and the food needs a full panel (21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)). Panelry builds one from this same recipe: your ingredients and weights carry over, and you match each to a USDA food.

Build your Nutrition Facts panel

Where this goes on the package

The name of the food and the net weight belong on the principal display panel — the face a shopper sees (21 CFR 101.3(a), 101.7(a)). The net weight goes in the bottom 30 percent of that face, unless the face is 5 square inches or smaller (21 CFR 101.7(f)).The ingredient list, allergen statement, your name and address and any nutrition panel may go on that same face or on the information panel — the part of the label immediately to the right of it as the buyer faces the package. If that part is unusable, such as a folded flap or a can end, use the next panel to the right; if the lid is the face, any adjacent panel works (21 CFR 101.2(a), (b)).Wherever they go, they have to appear in one place with nothing in between — no artwork, marketing copy or barcode running between the ingredient list and the address (21 CFR 101.2(e)).

Verify before selling

Cottage-food rules vary by state and change often. Confirm your label against your state's current requirements. Panelry is not legal advice.

Flavored Vinegar labeling FAQ

Do I have to put the acidity on a vinegar label?

For most vinegars the acidity is part of how the product is named and identified, and it is expected on the label. Table vinegar must be at least 4 percent acetic acid; state the actual figure rather than rounding it up.

Can I sell homemade flavored vinegar?

Usually yes, because vinegar is acidic enough to be shelf stable, and it appears on many state cottage food lists. Fresh fruit or herbs suspended in it can still raise questions, so confirm your state's position on infusions.

More product labeling guides

Verify before selling

Product rules vary by state (especially for flavored vinegar) and change over time. Confirm with your state's program and official sources. Panelry is not affiliated with any government agency and does not provide legal advice. See our disclaimer.