When learning something new it can be really helpful to see examples that apply directly to what you’re working on. At ReciPal, we’ve often used baked goods, like cookies, when explaining how different aspects of our nutrition analysis software work. So if you make chocolate chip cookies you’ll find lots of apt examples in our blogs, videos, and info icons. But what if you’re working on something totally different? In this series of blogs we’re going to explore some of the most popular food products on ReciPal to highlight the nuances and answer the frequently asked questions in each category. Let us know what categories you’d like us to cover!

To start, we’re going to focus on one of our favorite categories - hot sauce! If you didn’t already know, ReciPal is the favorite nutrition analysis tool for hot sauce companies. As of today, 25 different ReciPal users have been featured on Hot Ones. So if you're an aspiring hot sauce brand, you’re in good company with ReciPal.

🌶️🔥 Hot Sauce Labeling 🌶️🔥

Here's a video showing how to make a hot sauce label in ReciPal and more detailed information about hot sauce nutrition, bottles, label types and trends.

Nutrition Fact Info

• The FDA’s reference amount for a serving size of hot sauce is 1 tsp (5 ml).
• To calculate the servings per container, divide the volume of a bottle by the reference amount.
  • A bottle of 12 fl oz (355 ml) will have 71 servings. (355 ml container / 5 ml per serving = 71 servings per container)
• Don’t be surprised if there isn’t much nutritional information on your label.
  • Based on the ingredients and the serving size, many hot sauces will only have values for sodium. The other categories typically round to zero. For example, the FDA rounding rules state that less than 5 calories per serving rounds to 0. With a serving size of just 1 tsp most hot sauce nutrients will end up rounding to zero.

The “Standard” Hot Sauce Bottle

• While you can package hot sauce however you like, 5 fl oz is the most common configuration.
• The “standard” 5 fl oz bottle is called a woozy bottle.
  • If you're in the early stages Amazon has great options to quickly start bottling your product. However, once you're ready to scale bulk purchasing options will make more sense.
• If you’re using a 5 fl oz (148 ml) bottle there will be about 30 servings per container.
  • 148 ml container / 5 ml per serving = 29.6 servings per container
• Label Dimensions - on a woozy bottle the label panel height is 3.25 inches and the circumference is 5.8 inches. If you’re wrapping a label around the bottle the typical dimensions for hot sauce labels are 3” x 5.5”. This can vary depending on your preferences.
  • For printing hot sauce labels, we partner with Avery and ReciPal users get 20% off their first order. Avery has durable, waterproof film labels that are resistant to moisture & great for hot sauce bottles. In any shape or size, you can order as few as two label sheets or thousands of roll labels with no setup cost.

Order Your Labels Now

Choosing a Nutrition Fact Panel Format

• Based on their size, most hot sauce containers are eligible to choose the vertical, tabular, or linear formats.
  • Generally vertical should be used if possible. If you don’t have the vertical space (ie 3 inches) you can use tabular. And if you have less than 40 square inches available you can use the linear.
• Hot sauce labels are almost always eligible to use the simplified label form. You should definitely do this! This option saves space by only showing the calories, total fat, sodium, total carbohydrates, and protein.
  • You can turn this option on in ReciPal from the Label page. Open the optional nutrients dropdown and select the box to “Show in simplified format.” (Note: you’ll only see this if your product is eligible to use it.
  • Within this option you can also choose to show or hide the footnotes, another space saver!
    
    
• Trends - while we see brands use all three label styles we have noticed some trends and pros and cons.
  • The vertical style often works well in the simplified format. It’s the most common format overall and can be easy to read.
  • The tabular style is the least used on hot sauce bottles. When it is used, it’s oriented vertically to better use the label space.
  • The linear format can also be a good choice and we’re seeing this become more of a trend. Given the simplicity of most hot sauces, the linear format creates the smallest footprint which actually allows for it to be displayed in a larger, more legible way.
• Test it out - you can play around with our sample recipe to try different label formats and settings and figure out your favorite configuration.
  Sample Label
  

Wrapping it up

Hot sauce can be a great business venture! With so many varieties, heat levels, and applications there's always an opportunity to stand out. A simple ingredient list can help showcase the flavors your product brings to life. Unique labels (and fun names) can draw consumers in. Some brands let other aspects of their packaging differentiate them from the crowd (Cholula's wooden cap for instance). In the end, it all comes down to taste. But If you want your hot sauce to be taken seriously and sold in major stores, you'll need a nutrition label and ingredient statement. ReciPal makes that process super simple. We're very proud of all of our users making waves in the hot sauce industry and hope to count you among them.