How Nutrition Facts Numbers Are Rounded

The panel is rounded on purpose

A Nutrition Facts panel never shows a long decimal. The FDA sets rounding rules so every label reports at the same level of precision, which keeps one product comparable to the next on the shelf. Your raw recipe math gets rounded to those steps before it prints.

The rounding is not yours to choose. The steps are fixed in the federal nutrition labeling rule, so the same 143 calories rounds the same way on your label as on anyone else's.

Calories round to 5, then to 10

Calories round in two bands. At 50 calories or less, they round to the nearest 5. Above 50, they round to the nearest 10. A serving that calculates to 143 calories prints as 140. Under 5 calories, the panel shows 0.

Fat, carbs, sugars, and protein round to the gram

• Fat: under 0.5 g shows as 0, up to 5 g rounds to the nearest half gram, above 5 g rounds to the nearest whole gram
• Total carbohydrate, fiber, total sugars, added sugars, and protein: under 0.5 g shows as 0, otherwise round to the nearest whole gram
• Amounts between 0.5 g and 1 g can be shown as less than 1 gram instead of a rounded number

This is why a pinch of something can drop to 0 on the panel. It is not missing, it rounded down below the half-gram line. The ingredient still appears in the ingredient list.

Sodium rounds to 5, then to 10

Sodium follows its own steps in milligrams. Under 5 mg prints as 0. From 5 to 140 mg it rounds to the nearest 5 mg. Above 140 mg it rounds to the nearest 10 mg. Cholesterol and the other milligram nutrients have their own similar bands.

Let the tool round for you

Getting every band right by hand, calories one way, fat another, sodium a third, is where a hand-built panel goes wrong. Nutripane applies the FDA rounding steps to every value from your recipe, so the panel you preview is already rounded the way it prints. Confirm the exact thresholds against the FDA rule if you are ever unsure.

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