The purpose of these guidelines is to assist manufacturers in determining the

metric equivalent declarations (e.g., gram (g) and milliliter (mL) measures) of the
common household measures that are declared on food labels.

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 added section 403(q) to the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343(q)). This section specifies,
in part, that the serving size is "an amount customarily consumed ... expressed in
a common household measure that is appropriate to the food," or "if the use of
the food is not typically expressed in a serving size, the common household unit
of measure that expresses the serving size of the food" should be used

Serving sizes are determined from the reference amounts established in 21 CFR
101.12(b) and the procedures described in 21 CFR 101.9(b)(2) and must be
expressed in both common household measures and equivalent metric quantities
(21 CFR 101.9(b)(7)). As stated in 21 CFR 101.9(b)(5) the term "common
household measure" or "common household unit" means cup, tablespoon (tbsp),
teaspoon (tsp), piece, slice, fraction (e.g., 1/4 pizza), ounce (oz), fluid ounce (fl
oz), or other common household equipment used to package food products (e.g.,
jar, tray).
Conversions
Measures
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

4 tablespoons = One-quarter cup

5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon = One-third cup

8 tablespoons = One-half cup

10 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons = Two-thirds cup

12 tablespoons = Three-quarters cup

16 tablespoons = 1 cup

2 tablespoons = 1 liquid ounce

1 cup = One-half pint

2 cups = 1 pint

4 cups = 1 quart

4 quarts = 1 gallon
Equivalents
1 pound sifted all-purpose Flour = 4 cups

1 pound White sugar = 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups

1 pound Brown sugar, firmly packed = 2 1/8- 2 1/4 cups

1 lb. Powdered sugar, sifted = 4 1/2 - 5 cups

1 medium Lemon rind, grated = 1 tablespoon

1 medium Lemon, juiced = 3 tablespoons

1 medium Orange, juiced = One-quarter cup Juice

4 ounces firm Cheese (Cheddar, jack, Swiss) = 1 cup shredded, lightly packed

3 ounces hard cheese (Parmesan, Romano) = One-half cup grated

4 ounce Almonds or Walnut meats = 1 cup chopped

28 squares Saltine (soda) crackers = One-quarter cup crumbs

16 squares Graham crackers = 1 cup crumbs

24 two-inch Vanilla wafers = 1 cup crumbs

18 two-inch Chocolate wafers = 1 cup crumbs

1 package dry Yeast = 1 tablespoon

Metric Conversions
To convert U.S. measurements to metric—or the other way around—get out the calculator!
Ounces to grams: multiply ounces by 28.3 for number of grams

Grams to ounces: multiply grams by .0353 for number of ounces

Ounces to
multiply ounces by 30 for number of milliliters
milliliters:

Pounds to grams: multiply pounds by 453.59 for number of grams

Pounds to
multiply pounds by 0.45 for number of kilograms
kilograms:

Cups to liters: multiply cups by 0.24 for number of liters

Fahrenheit to subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit degrees, multiply by 5, then divide by 9 to

Celsius: get degrees in Celsius
 Celsius to multiply Celsius degrees by 9, divide by 5, then add 32 to get degrees in
Fahrenheit: Fahrenheit

Inches to
multiply inches by 2.54 for number of centimeters
centimeters:

Centimeters to
multiply centimeters by 0.39 to get number of inches
inches:

Metric units at a glance

Weights

g = gram

kg = kilogram

1000g = 1kg

Volumes

ml = millilitre

L = litre

1000ml = 1L

Lengths

mm = millimetre

cm = centimetre

m = metre

10mm = 1cm

100cm = 1m

Dry measures

Metric Imperial
15 g ½ oz

30 g 1 oz

60 g 2 oz

90 g 3 oz

100 g 3 ½ oz

125 g 4 oz (¼lb)

155 g 5 oz

185 g 6 oz

220 g 7 oz

250 g 8 oz (½lb)

280 g 9 oz

315 g 10 oz

345 g 11 oz

375 g 12 oz (¾lb)

440 g 14 oz

470 g 15 oz

500 g 16 oz (1 lb)

750 g 24 oz (1 ½ lb)

1 kg 32 oz (2 lb)
Liquid measures

Metric Imperial

30 ml 1 fluid oz

60 ml 2 fluid oz

100 ml 3 fluid oz

125 ml 4 fluid oz

150 ml 5 fluid oz

(¼ pint = 1 gill)

185 ml 6 fluid oz

250 ml 8 fluid oz

300 ml 10 fluid oz

(½ pint)

500 ml 16 fluid oz

750 ml 24 fluid oz

1L 32 fluid oz

(1 ¾ pints)
Length measures

Metric Imperial

3 mm 1 /8 in

6 mm ¼ in

1 cm ½ in

2 cm ¾ in

2.5 cm 1 in

5 cm 2 in

6 cm 2 ½ in

8 cm 3 in

10 cm 4 in

13 cm 5 in

15 cm 6 in

18 cm 7 in

20 cm 8 in

23 cm 9 in

25 cm 10 in

28 cm 11 in

30 cm 12 in (1 ft)
Oven temperatures

Setting o C o F Gas
Mark
(Celsius) (Fahrenheit)

Very slow 120 250 ½

Slow 140-150 275-300 1-2

Moderately 160 325 3

slow

Moderate 180-190 350-375 4-5

Moderately 200 400 6

hot

Hot 220-230 425-450 7-8

Very hot 240 472 9