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How to label kombucha to sell

Kombucha ferments in the bottle, and that is both its appeal and its regulatory problem. Cross 0.5 percent alcohol by volume and it stops being a soft drink and becomes an alcoholic beverage with a different agency attached.

What kombucha labels get wrong

  • Above 0.5 percent ABV, kombucha is regulated as an alcoholic beverage by the TTB, with a permit and a different label entirely. Secondary fermentation in a warm room can get you there without meaning to.
  • Kombucha is sold by volume. Net contents are in fluid ounces with the metric equivalent.
  • The culture belongs in the ingredient list. “Kombucha Culture (SCOBY)” or a live-culture statement is the honest way to write it.
  • Fruit purees and juices used in a second ferment are ingredients and go in the list in weight order.
  • Most state cottage food programs exclude fermented and refrigerated beverages. Check before bottling.

Serving size

Beverages use a 240 mL RACC, which is 8 fluid ounces. See the RACC lookup for how the FDA sets serving sizes.

Make your kombucha label

The builder below is loaded with the sample kombucha 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 kombucha label

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

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)).

Auto-ordered by weight

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)”.

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.

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

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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.

Kombucha labeling FAQ

Can I sell kombucha under cottage food rules?
Rarely. Most state programs exclude fermented and refrigerated beverages because they are not shelf stable. Kombucha also needs alcohol testing, since anything at or above 0.5 percent ABV falls under TTB rather than FDA.
How do I label the alcohol content in kombucha?
If your product stays reliably below 0.5 percent ABV you do not declare alcohol, but you should be testing to prove it. At or above 0.5 percent you need TTB approval, a government warning statement, and an alcohol content statement.

More product labeling guides

Verify before selling

Product rules vary by state (especially for kombucha) 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.