Selling it

What the label has to carry

Updated October 2026

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The five The dilution statement The date is the claim most likely to be wrong The storage line is worth the space Order labels last Allergens arrive from unexpected directions here References

Five elements are required of any packaged food, and this property adds two of its own: a dilution statement on a cut vinegar, and a date you can defend on an oil.

The five

Statement of identity, in words a buyer recognizes.
Net quantity, from the bottle and the fill.
Ingredients, in descending order by weight. For an infused oil this includes the botanical and anything used to acidify it.
Allergens, declared as required. Oils and infusions both carry ways for these to arrive unnoticed.
Name and place of business of the responsible party.

The dilution statement

Where a vinegar has been diluted with water, FDA policy calls for a statement such as diluted with water to a stated percent acid strength, with the actual figure filled in and in no case below 4 percent. It is a specific form of words about a specific number and it is easy to leave off by accident.

The date is the claim most likely to be wrong

An oil’s enemy is time, so a best-before date is a prediction about the thing that is actually happening to the product. Base it on stock you held back and tasted at the date you intended to print, stored the way a customer stores it rather than the way you store inventory.

The storage line is worth the space

Keep cool and out of direct light, and for an oil that may cloud, a line saying it will clear as it warms. Both turn predictable buyer reactions into non-events, and they cost nothing but panel area.

Order labels last

Net quantity depends on a settled bottle. The ingredient list depends on a formulation and an acidification method that are still moving during development. Labels ordered early are labels reprinted.

Allergens arrive from unexpected directions here

Sesame oil in a blend, a nut oil used for flavor, an infusion carrying something declarable. The declaration follows the ingredient rather than the product name, so a blend change that looks like a sourcing decision can change what the label must say. Check it at the point the formulation is fixed, not at the point the labels are ordered.

The same applies to a base oil swap made because of a supply problem. It is the most likely moment for a label to quietly stop matching what is in the bottle.

References

United States Food and Drug Administration. Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 525.825, Vinegar, Definitions: “No standards of identity for vinegar have been established under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,” and each listed variety “should contain 4 grams of acetic acid per 100 mL.” fda.gov

United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. United States Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil, 7 CFR 52.1531 to 52.1542, published at 75 FR 22363 and effective October 25, 2010. Voluntary standards issued under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. ams.usda.gov

21 CFR 114, Acidified Foods, which sets the requirements for manufacturing and packing foods so as to prevent conditions in which Clostridium botulinum can grow. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal regulation, voluntary USDA grade standards, FDA labeling policy and published extension guidance, not from a laboratory. The infused-oil pages describe a real botulism hazard and are a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture and a process authority, not a determination that any method you use is safe.