What is the Typeface Used in Nutrition Facts in Food Packages?
Nutrition Facts, also known as Nutrition Facts Label or Nutrition Information Panel, is a label that’s required on most packaged food products in many countries.
The label indicates the nutrients that the product contains as well as other ingredients, including bioactive ingredients, chemical additives, preservatives, etc.
Nutrition Facts Label is based on a country’s official nutritional rating system. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the nature and amount of nutritional elements a given food product can contain.
Products that do not comply with FDA’s official guidelines are either declared unsafe and/or illegal, with effect that the manufacturer recalls them from circulation or faces legal action if they don’t.
NB: Nutrition Facts should not be confused with NutritionFacts.Org, a science-based nonprofit organization that offers free bite-sized video updates on the latest nutrition research.
The non-commercial website was founded by Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM and prides itself in disseminating science-backed nutrition-oriented information via numerous channels, including social media.
Nutrition Facts Font
Nutrition Facts uses 6 point or larger Helvetica Black and/or Helvetica Regular type.
The actual font typography may be compressed in order to accommodate some formats. Sometimes, the typography may be kerned to as much as -4.
However, it’s worth noting that tighter kerning impairs legibility. So, food manufacturers are always keen to avoid this trick in a bid to ensure no crucial information regarding the ingredients in their products escapes their customers’ attention.
It’s also important to note that the FDA has since reworked the Nutrition Facts label to place more emphasis on calories. The regulator has also implemented several other changes in a bid to help consumers purchase food products from a point of information.
New FDA Guidelines
• The words “Nutrition Facts” must be the largest and most visible wording on the label. According to the FDA, “Nutrition Facts” should be set at least 16 point font for Standard formats and at least 10 point font for Linear or Tabular formats.
• The numerical information indicating the calories in the product should either be the same font size as the “Nutrition Facts” font or should be the second-largest and most visible element in the label. For instance, if you set your Calories count font to 16 point, then the font for “Nutrition Facts” must be 16 point or higher.
• The Servings per Container should be at least 10 point font for Standard formats and at least 9 point font for Linear or Tabular formats.
• The Serving Size + Serving Size Amount should be at least 10 point font for Standard formats and at least 9 point font for Linear or Tabular formats.
• The Amount per Serving should be at least 6 point font for all formats.
• The %DV Heading should be at least 6 point font for all formats.
• The Nutrients and %DV Value should be at least 8 point font for all formats.
• The Footnote should be at least 6 point font for all formats.
Remember that the Nutrition Facts font type doesn’t change as you move down the product’s information panel. It remains Helvetica Black and/or Helvetica Regular. What changes are the font size and format.
Where to Download Helvetica Font
Helvetica is a trademarked font that’s mainly available for commercial use. Therefore, it’s not technically free. Fortunately, there are numerous places you can download the font, including Free Fonts Family.