public-service · percentage juice labeling rule
What Triggers a Percentage Juice Label Under 21 CFR 101.30
21 CFR 101.30 includes fruit or vegetable imagery and juice-like appearance-and-taste language in its percentage-juice labeling provisions.
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What matters now
- 21 CFR 101.30 includes a fruit or vegetable vignette or other pictorial representation in its trigger language.
- The section also includes the phrase 'appearance and taste of containing a fruit or vegetable juice.'
- The current text reflects a 1993 original plus two 1993 amendments and two 2016 amendments.
- This article covers only the rule's trigger language, not label-compliance judgments for specific products.
The percentage-juice labeling provisions in 21 CFR 101.30 include language about a beverage that “bears any vignette (i.e., depiction of a fruit or vegetable) or other pictorial representation” (ecfr.gov) and one that gives “the appearance and taste of containing a fruit or vegetable juice” (ecfr.gov). This article reports those phrases without deciding how they apply to a particular label.
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- The section’s trigger language includes a fruit or vegetable vignette or other pictorial representation.
- The section also includes the quoted phrase about a beverage’s appearance and taste.
- The current regulatory text carries a documented amendment history spanning 1993 through 2016.
- This article addresses only what the regulatory text itself states as its trigger, not how any particular product’s label is judged against it.
The pictorial trigger
The regulation includes packaging imagery in its wording: a beverage that “bears any vignette (i.e., depiction of a fruit or vegetable) or other pictorial representation” is named in the section (ecfr.gov). This article does not determine whether a particular package meets the conditions of the provision.
The appearance-and-taste trigger
The same section also uses the phrase “the appearance and taste of containing a fruit or vegetable juice” (ecfr.gov). The quoted text is distinct from the vignette language; the article does not interpret either phrase for a specific product.
Where the current text comes from
The version of the rule in force today did not arrive all at once. The section’s own citation records a sequence of Federal Register actions: “[58 FR 2925, Jan. 6, 1993, as amended at 58 FR 44063, Aug. 18, 1993; 58 FR 49192, Sept. 22, 1993; 81 FR 33994, May 27, 2016; 81 FR 59131, Aug. 29, 2016]” (ecfr.gov). That history shows the current text reflects an original 1993 publication followed by amendments made twice more in 1993 and twice more in 2016.
What this article does not answer
This article covers only the quoted language in 21 CFR 101.30 and the amendment history displayed with that section. It does not evaluate whether any specific product’s label complies with the rule or offer dietary or health guidance.