Is the class activity free?

Yes. Creating and downloading a draft Nutrition Facts label is free for a whole class. No school purchase and no student subscription.

Do students need accounts?

No. Students open the class link and build a label in the browser. They do not create accounts.

Do you collect student emails?

No. The class link does not ask for a student name or email. A teacher may optionally leave their own email when creating the link. Student activity is counted with an anonymous browser id and the class code: visits, labels made, and downloads.

For teachers

Bring a whole class to the label maker

One link for the class. Students build a draft US Nutrition Facts label from a recipe they choose, then talk about serving size, % Daily Value, and rounding. Built for Family and Consumer Sciences, nutrition, culinary arts, and food science classes in US middle schools, high schools, and colleges. It pastes cleanly into Canvas or Google Classroom.

Who it is for

FCS and foods classes that already teach the Nutrition Facts panel.
Introductory nutrition and food science labs that compare a recipe with a label.
Culinary classes that write a recipe and need a draft panel for a menu or package mockup.

Students work in the browser. You do not collect a roster, and the page does not ask them to sign in.

Classroom activity: Build a Nutrition Facts label for your recipe

Plan on 30-45 minutes, in class or as homework. No accounts.

Learning goals

Build a draft Nutrition Facts label from a recipe, or from nutrients the student already has.
Explain how serving size changes the calories and the % Daily Value column.
Read a %DV and say, in discussion, what a 2,000 calorie reference day is doing on the label.
See how FDA-style rounding changes a calculated number before it prints. The same rules are on the rounding rules page.

Steps

5 minutes. Open the class link. There is nothing to install and no login.
10 minutes. Paste a short recipe (a smoothie, trail mix, or sandwich works) or use “Try with a sample recipe.” Review the ingredient matches before the label is drawn. Students can also type nutrients they already know.
10 minutes. Set how many servings the batch makes and what one serving is. Read calories and at least two nutrients in the % Daily Value column.
5 minutes. Change the serving count (half the batch, then double it) and write down what moved on the label.
5-10 minutes. Open rounding rules. Pick one nutrient, such as 47 calories, and compare the raw amount with what the panel prints.
5 minutes. Download the PNG or PDF and bring it to the discussion.

Discussion questions

% Daily Value. The footnote uses a 2,000 calorie day. Who is that a useful reference for, and who is it not? If a line shows 20% DV, what does that mean for one serving?
Serving size. If a student eats two servings, what happens to calories and to each %DV? How could a larger declared serving make one serving look lower in calories without changing the recipe?
Rounding. Why does 47 calories print as 45 on this label? When may a very small amount print as 0? Use the rounding rules page, which calls the same functions as the panel and quotes 21 CFR 101.9.
Limits. What can this tool not tell the class? It is a draft formatter. It is not a laboratory analysis and not FDA approval.

Printable one-page handout (HTML, use Print and choose Save as PDF) · Download the PDF

Get a class link

The link looks like https://fdalabelmaker.com/?class=yourcode&utm_source=class&utm_medium=teacher. Students who open it are counted for that class: visits, labels made, and downloads. The count uses an anonymous browser id. It is not a student roster.

Common questions

Is it free?: Yes. A whole class can create and download draft labels at no charge. There is no school license and no student subscription.
Do students need accounts?: No. The class link opens the label maker. Students do not create accounts.
Do you require student emails?: No. Student privacy for this activity means we do not ask for a student name or email. The optional email field above is for the teacher only, and it can be left blank. Save-for-later on the maker is a separate choice and is not part of the class link.
What do you store for a class?: The class name, the class code, and the teacher email if you chose to enter one. Activity is an anonymous browser id plus the class code: a visit, a label made, or a download. We do not build a student roster. Details are in the privacy policy.
Can I paste this into Canvas or Google Classroom?: Yes. After you create a link, copy the short blurb and paste it into an announcement, assignment, or module. Students only need the link.
Is the label FDA-approved?: No. It is a draft formatting tool for class and for packaging mockups. It is not a laboratory, not FDA approval, and not affiliated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.