Not As Sweet As You
Everything on this page is set at true physical size (1 in = 96 px). Print at 100% / Actual Size — "Fit to page" rescales it and voids every measurement. Dashed lines are cut and safe-area guides, not artwork.
The finding that changed this design
The earlier vanilla artwork carried a full Nutrition Facts panel. For a 3-gallon tub that goes to a restaurant, ice cream shop, or convenience store to be scooped and served, that panel is not legally required. Those exact channels are enumerated in 21 CFR 101.9(j)(2)(ii), and 101.9(j)(2)(iv) covers it even more cleanly — food "used only in such facilities and not served to the consumer in the package in which they are received." Selling through a distributor does not break this; (j)(2)(iv) is an end-use test, not a channel test.
That is why this lid has no nutrition panel and a much larger, more readable information block instead. It also removes the blocker — the old design could not legally ship because Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron and Potassium were blank pending lab analysis. You no longer need that analysis for foodservice tubs.
What still applies, always: statement of identity, net quantity, full ingredient list, allergen declaration, and your name and address. Those are on this lid. The exemption reaches the Nutrition Facts panel and nothing else.
Four things that would void the exemption
- The tub is resold intact to a consumer. If any account puts a sealed 3-gallon tub in a retail freezer case, the exemption fails and a full panel is required.
- Any nutrient content or health claim, anywhere. "Low fat," "light," "reduced sugar," "high protein," "no sugar added" — on the label, a sell sheet, or advertising. Note this already affects you: the site describes Rainbow Sherbet as "layered and light," and "light" is a defined claim under 21 CFR 101.56. Ordinary marketing language ("homemade," "small batch," "premium") is fine.
- The distributor repackages or stops principally selling to foodservice — 21 CFR 101.9(j)(2)(v)(A).
- You sell tubs direct to consumers — farmers market, your own freezer case, online shipping. Different rules entirely.
Because 101.9(j)(2)(v)(B) puts the duty on you as manufacturer if there's a "reasonable possibility" of direct consumer purchase, put the scoop-and-serve restriction in writing in the distribution agreement. That is the single cheapest protection available here.
The everyday one. Four inches fits standard round label stock, prints two per letter sheet on your own machine, and sits comfortably on top of a 3-gallon lid without covering it. Brand, flavor, and a white write-in block with 0.24 in ruled lines — enough room for a Sharpie. Use this when the tub's ingredient and allergen info lives elsewhere; use the 6 in in section 2 when the lid is the only labeled surface.
Monster
Caramel
Two per letter sheet at 4 in with margins. Set flavor class to .long for one long word, .xlong for a two-line name. Any flavor from the wholesale list drops straight into this frame — only the name changes.
Why these sizes, and not a full-lid wrap
An 11.5 in full-lid label has to be commercially die-cut, cannot be printed at home, and pushes the logo past the resolution it actually has. A 4 in or 6 in circle applied to the center of the lid does the same job: it identifies the flavor, carries the required information, and gives you dates you can actually write. Both print on your own machine on freezer-grade stock.
Both sizes stay inside the logo's clean-print ceiling — the mark renders at 1.35 in on the 4 in label and 1.15 in on the 6 in, well under the roughly 4 in maximum.
Same idea, sized up so the tub carries its required information on the lid itself — and with 0.3 in ruled lines for dates, which is comfortable marker room. Six inches sits in the middle of an 11.5 in lid and still prints one per letter sheet at home. Shown with Vanilla, the only flavor with a verified ingredient statement on file.
Which one do you need? If the tub already carries its ingredient and allergen info elsewhere (a side panel, or the case), the 4 in label in section 1 is all you need on the lid. If the lid is the only labeled surface, use this 6 in one — it carries everything legally required plus the dates.
For the one-offs and experiments. Everything that never changes is printed; the flavor name is a white field you fill in with a marker. Print a stack of these once and they cover any flavor you invent, so a new flavor never waits on a print run.
4 in blank · two per letter sheet. Flavor line is 0.34 in tall — comfortable for a marker.
6 in blank · one per letter sheet. Flavor line 0.42 in, date lines 0.3 in.
What a blank label can and cannot do
It identifies the flavor. It does not replace the ingredient statement. Ingredients change with every flavor and are far too long to hand-write, so a write-in label cannot legally stand alone as the tub's only labeling.
So pair it one of two ways: keep the full ingredient statement on the tub's side panel or the case, or use the printed 6 in label from section 2 for flavors you make regularly and reserve these blanks for one-offs.
On the tick-boxes: they are a prompt to think, not a substitute for checking. Milk and egg come pre-marked because they are in every batch. Tick the rest from the actual recipe and supplier specs — never from the flavor's name. Sesame is on the list because it became the 9th major allergen in 2023 and is easy to forget.
| Element | Was | Now — and the reason |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrition Facts | Full panel with Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, Potassium blank — legally unshippable | Removed. Not required for scoop-and-serve foodservice tubs (21 CFR 101.9(j)(2)(ii) and (iv)). This is what unblocks printing. |
| Net quantity | "NET WT 3 GAL" — weight wording on a volume unit | "NET 3 GAL (384 FL OZ / 11.4 L)." Ice cream is declared by fluid measure under the trade-custom clause of 21 CFR 101.7(a). The old wording mixed the two. |
| Statement of identity | Implied by the brand line only | "ICE CREAM" stated explicitly. Ice cream is a standardized food; the name is dictated by 21 CFR 135.110(f)(1). |
| Cross-contact | None — said only "CONTAINS: MILK, EGG" | Advisory added. Your own allergy-info page says the kitchen handles nuts, wheat and soy daily and cannot guarantee any item is allergen-free. The label contradicted the website. |
| Ingredient type size | 7.6 px on the pint — roughly 0.08 in, far below any threshold | Enlarged to 0.25 in font size (cap height about 0.18 in), up from 0.14 in. The goal is 21 CFR 101.100(a)(2)(i): a scoop shop may skip its own ingredient labeling only if the bulk container's labeling is plainly in view and set in at least 1/4 inch lettering — which makes you materially easier to buy from. Confirm the measurement basis: if "1/4 inch" means letter height rather than font size, this needs to go up again to about 0.36 in. Ask your labeling reviewer to settle it. |
| Dairy town | "Rocking W Dairy, Olathe, CO" | Town removed pending confirmation. Your repo contradicts itself — about.html says Delta, local-guide.html and the old label say Olathe. Do not print a town on a legal ingredient statement until you know. |
Before any print run — five open items
- Only Vanilla is populated. Every other flavor needs its real ingredient statement in descending order by weight, plus its confirmed allergen line, pulled from actual supplier specs. Do not swap flavor names into this frame and print — the old plan to reuse the vanilla artwork would have carried vanilla's ingredients onto Cookie Monster.
- Rocking W Dairy — Delta or Olathe? Resolve it, and confirm you have permission to name them on packaging.
- Branded flavors. Butterfinger, Heath, Oreo and M&M are third-party trademarks. Using those names on printed commercial packaging is a separate legal question from allergens.
- Sesame became the 9th major allergen on Jan 1, 2023 (FASTER Act). Add it to your supplier screening even though nothing here currently declares it.
- The bigger exposure is licensing, not labels. Wholesaling ice cream into distribution likely makes you a dairy plant under Colorado 6 CCR 1010-4 and C.R.S. 25-5.5-107, which is separate from a county retail food license. Confirm with CDPHE before the first delivery — this matters more than any artwork decision on this page.
Have a food-labeling consultant or food attorney sign off on the final artwork before the run. The regulatory reasoning here was independently audited and the core conclusion held, but a professional review before you commit to hundreds of labels is cheap insurance.
Mimi's Sweet Treats · 320 Main Street, Delta, CO 81416 · Internal print-prep — not customer-facing. Screen color is not a contract proof; request a physical proof before production.