Labeling and Packaging

Sick of having to deal with (or produce) long, convoluted and often incorrectly converted measurement specifications for labels such as "4 L, 1.06 gallons (135 fl. oz.)"?

Fortunately, there is an amendment to the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) that would simplify our packaging and allow manufacturers (at their option) to package in metric exclusively.

You can help make this change by going to your representative with the change listed below and asking for it to be introduced to congress.

Current Status

Not yet submitted to Congress.

Contact your congressional representatives today

Enter your ZIP in the box below if you don't know their contact details (jumps to congress.org who have easy to use contact forms and other contact details):

Proposed Changes

Proposed amendments to: §1453 Requirements of Labeling; Placement, Form, and Contents of Statement of Quantity; Supplemental Statement of Quantity

i. a. Amend (a)(2) by adding the text shown as underlined:

(a)(2) The net quantity of contents (in terms of weight or mass, measure, or numerical count) shall be separately and accurately stated in a uniform location upon the principal display panel of that label:

(A) using the most appropriate unit of the metric system of measurement and the inch-pound measurement equivalent, except as provided in paragraph (6) of this subsection; or

(B) using only the most appropriate units of the metric system of measurement.

b. Amend (a)(2) by deleting the struck-through text:

(a)(2) The net quantity of contents (in terms of weight or mass, measure, or numerical count) shall be separately and accurately stated in a uniform location upon the principal display panel of that label, using the most appropriate units of both the customary inch/pound system of measure, as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, and except as provided in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) or paragraph (6) of this subsection, the SI metric system.

ii. Amend (a)(3) (A) by adding the underlined text and deleting the struck-through text:

(a)(3) The separate label statement of net quantity of contents appearing upon or affixed to any package:

(A) for those portions of the net quantity of contents statement using inch-pound units,

(ii) if on a random package, may be expressed in terms of pounds and decimal fractions of the pound carried out to not more than three decimal places; and is not required to, but may include a statement in terms of the SI metric system carried out to not more than three decimal places

iii. Amend Section (a)(5) by inserting the underlined text as shown:

(a)(5) For purposes of paragraph (3) (A) (ii) and paragraph (6) of this subsection, the term "random package" means a package which is one of a lot, shipment, or delivery of packages of the same consumer commodity with varying weight or mass, that is, packages with no fixed weight or mass pattern.

iv. Revise (a)(6) by inserting the underlined text as shown:

(a)(6) The net quantity of contents statement for foods that are packaged at the retail store level and for random packages shall be expressed using one of two possible regimes: using only the most appropriate units of the metric system, or using both metric units and inch-pound units.

Delete the struck-through text in (a)(6) as shown:

(a)(6) The requirement of paragraph (2) that the statement of net quantity of contents include a statement in terms of the SI metric system shall not apply to foods that are packaged at the retail store level.

Note: The last paragraph differs slightly from the NIST 2007 proposal

Reference Material