Mexico's NOM-051 regulation requires octagonal front of pack warning seals, such as "EXCESO CALORÍAS" or "EXCESO GRASAS SATURADAS," on packaged foods and beverages that exceed set thresholds for calories, sugars, saturated fat, trans fat, or sodium. These seals always appear in Spanish, since that is a NOM-051 requirement. Food Label Maker generates them directly from your recipe data and lets you customize how they appear before you download your label.
This guide walks you through setting them up.
Step 1: Set Up Your Recipe
Set up your recipe as you normally would in the Recipe Setup and Recipe Builder tabs, entering your ingredients, amounts, and serving size.
Step 2: Open the Front of Pack Label Tab
Go to the Customize Label tab on your recipe, then select Front of Pack Label from the row of sub-tabs.
Step 3: Choose Your Label Style
Use the Choose Your Label Style dropdown to select Mexican Standard Label (Spanish). You can also enter a Suggested Serving Size (Spanish), which appears on the label.
Step 4: Review the Free Sugars and Sweeteners Classification
Food Label Maker uses AI to suggest which ingredients in your recipe should be classified as free sugars or sweeteners, since which NOM-051 seals apply depends on this classification. A pop-up shows each ingredient along with its total sugar content and checkboxes for Free Sugars and Sweeteners. Review the suggestions, adjust any checkbox that doesn't match your formulation, then click Save.
This classification is only a suggestion based on the ingredient information available. Confirm each ingredient is marked correctly for your specific recipe before finalizing your label. You can return to this list anytime from the Edit Free Sugars and Sweeteners link.
Step 5: Turn On Cautionary Statements
Toggle Show Cautionary Statements on to display the required disclaimer text alongside your seals, then choose a Wide Layout or Narrow Layout depending on your packaging space.
Step 6: Customize Your Seals
Under Customizations, you can turn on:
Show Clustered Seals — groups the warning seals together instead of spacing them apart
Small Label Size — for products with limited packaging space
Show Vertical Format — stacks the seals vertically instead of horizontally
Calorie Free Beverage — for beverages that qualify for the calorie-free exemption
The preview on the right updates as you toggle each option, so you can see exactly how your seals will look before downloading.
Step 7: Include the Seals in Your Download
When you are ready to export your label, click Download and make sure Front of Pack Label is checked in the list of elements to include. Choose your file format and click Download to save the file with your NOM-051 seals included.
Tips
The seals generated are based on the ingredient and nutrition data in your recipe, so keep your recipe updated if you reformulate.
If a seal doesn't look right, revisit Step 4. The free sugars and sweeteners classification is often the reason a seal appears or doesn't appear.
You can download the same recipe multiple times with different seal customizations to compare layouts before choosing one for print.
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