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FDA Soap Labeling Requirements for Vendors, Retailers and Brands

Last Updated on February 25, 2025 by Steve Harsh

Are you a vendor making soap boxes or a manufacturer trying to build a business as a soap seller? Either of two, your soap boxes need to follow the rules that ensure you comply with the laws that apply to them.

One thing is for sure: your labeling is essential in making or breaking your products. So, if you do not add the correct labeling information, you may not comply with the laws. And, if that happens, you are vulnerable to compliance issues for your products. You can read about soap labeling requirements in this article.

What About The Ingredients Labeling?

Before you do anything with your labeling, you must know whether your product is soap. So, if you make the product from alkaline salts carrying fatty acids, it is a soap. Also, its leading cleaning agents should be alkalis, oils, and fats.

Your product must carry only a soap’s features for such labeling. For instance, it should not contain germ-killing components or parts for treating a disease. You can add the word soap to such products, but their labeling requirements will differ.

We all know ingredients make your sales more accessible, so adding them can be a great thing to remember. The thing is that your soaps need to offer your customers the information they need to make things more clear. So, when you add ingredients, you allow your customers to know its benefits.

Make sure your ingredients should be easy for your customers to understand. This way, you allow better communication that helps your customers learn about your brand better. Also, adding less than 1 percent of your soap components is permissible.

Labeling Ingredients And Promotions

Make sure you know the methods to add ingredients to your soap label. There are two methods to add what is in the end product. Then, you can mention what you used when making the product.

You should use labeling accordingly if you mention your soap as a drug that solves health issues. The same goes for other needs; if you mention other benefits, you should also use them on your labels.

The same goes for social media platforms and other channels. If you make a cosmetic or drug-like claim, you must follow drug labeling in your product packaging. So, these are some of the soap labeling laws you must remember.

Labeling Components it Should Carry

Your soaps should carry some basic information on your label, which are:

• There should be a statement of identity that your customers can read and identify.
• Also, add your business name and address to the labeling.
• Make sure you mention your soap’s net weight on the label.

When you use the identity statement, you should also mention its type. Then, you should also add the manufacturer’s address and name. You can mention your company’s name and address if you make and distribute your products. Adding your phone number to this part of the label can help you improve your feedback stream.

Also, ensure you add your net weight to the bottom 30 percent of your label. Make sure that you add this to the front part of your label. Adding the ingredient list of your product is also a great way to let customers let them know.

At the same time, the FDA labeling guide has its standards for soaps and synthetic materials like detergents. For example, a soap bar contains oils, alkalis, and fats. These oils should be from any vegetable, animal, or mineral source. So, if your product is not a soap but a detergent, the concerned departments will deal with it differently.

Organic and Natural Products

FDA does not have any definition for organic or natural products, but NOP does have a specific purpose to ensure proper labeling practices. So, there is a complete definition of the production process and certification of such products to ensure they meet the regulations.

Moreover, you should ensure you add the right amount of ingredients you should use for tags like organic or natural.

Right Label Material Choice

Using suitable materials for your labeling also allows for better results. Make sure you make them with a material that suits your customers and the places you use them. So, try out a waterproof material; still, you need to make it eco-friendly.

Also, you should mention anything other than soap on the label if it does not do anything except cleaning. So, follow these laws to the core to get the best compliance.

Marketing Claims

When marketing your product, you can not use the words without the proper features you mention. So, you can say things like

• Moisturizing
• Calming
• Hydrating
• Exfoliating
• Conditioning
• Cleansing

Only mention these if your product carries these properties and you label your soap as a cosmetic product. Also, you can mention your soap has some medicinal use if you label it as a drug. Here are some words you can use for your soap if it is a drug:

• Treat rosacea
• Treat acne
• Prevent aging
• Cure or prevent eczema
• Restore hair growth
• Treat sunburn
• Regenerate cells
• Reduce redness
• Healing irritated skin

So, it would be best to remember some of these are FDA soap labeling guidelines. If you use these words, your product will be dealt with as a drug, so keep that in mind. Moreover, you can not claim a product to offer therapeutic benefits if it is not a drug, so keep that fact in mind when labeling it.

Also, you should know if the FDA regulates your product type or CPSC.

Meet These Requirements With Us!

We at Packaging Hub ensure our client’s packaging and labeling meets these soap labeling requirements in the USA. So, our services are intended to bring the most compliance-friendly yet promotionally sound results for our clients.