What NOM-051 is
NOM-051-SCFI/SSA1-2010 is the Mexican official standard that defines how commercial and health information must appear on the labels of prepackaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages. It is the rule behind the black octagons you see on the front of packages sold in Mexico since 2020.
The seals warn about excess calories, sugars, sodium, saturated fat and trans fat. The standard also requires precautionary legends about caffeine and sweeteners when a product is directed at children.
It did not land all at once: it was designed in phases, and phase 3 took effect in January 2026.
What phase 3 changes
Phase 3 does not add new seals: it tightens the thresholds at which a product must carry them. In practical terms, products that cleared 2025 without a seal may need one now, without any change to their formula.
Specialized publications place among the adjustments a lower added-sugar threshold — from 10% to 8% of total energy — and a sodium threshold of 300 mg per 100 g in solid foods, down from 350 mg (Vinculum, Nomverify).
One note of honesty: those figures come from private analysis, not from the official text. Before redesigning a label or deciding whether your product falls in or out, the number that governs is the one published in Mexico's Official Gazette. If your product sits near the limit, that verification is not optional.
The real problem is not the rule — it is the stock that already exists
No brand meets this with a blank page. They meet it with product already printed. Three different situations show up, each with a different fix:
1. Product in production, not yet printed. The easy case. Fix the artwork, print with the correct seal. Cost: a redesign.
2. Product already packed, in transit or at customs. This is where it hurts. The goods exist, they are paid for, and they do not comply. The operational way out is relabeling at destination: applying the correct label before the product goes on sale. It is manual work, priced per unit, and it has to be done properly — a stuck-on label that peels is a bigger problem than the original one.
3. Product already in the warehouse, ready to sell. Same fix, more time pressure, because every day that inventory cannot move is capital sitting still.
What to ask before importing
If your product is a prepackaged food or non-alcoholic beverage, four questions are worth settling before the container leaves:
- Does the formula fall inside or outside the current thresholds? Under 2026 criteria, not the ones checked last time.
- Who prints the compliant label — the supplier at origin, or someone in Mexico? Both work; what does not work is nobody deciding.
- Is the label printed or applied? If it is applied, somebody has to do it, with space, people and time.
- How long does that work take? Relabeling 5,000 units is not an afternoon. If that time is not in your launch plan, your launch moves.
Why this is a logistics topic, not just a regulatory one
It usually gets treated as a compliance matter — something for legal or quality — and ends up as an operations problem. The reason is simple: compliance gets solved where the goods are, and the goods are in a warehouse.
When labeling happens in the same place where product is received and stored, the flow makes sense: it arrives, gets prepared, and is put away ready to sell. When it happens somewhere else, the product travels twice, is handled twice, and is paid for twice.
Frequently asked questions
Does NOM-051 apply to imported products? Yes. It applies to prepackaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages sold in Mexico, regardless of where they were manufactured.
Can I sell while I fix the label? Product must comply in order to be commercialized. That is why relabeling happens before inventory is released for sale, not after.
Do the seals apply to every product? Only to the categories the standard covers — prepackaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages — and only when content exceeds the established thresholds.
How often do the criteria change? The standard rolled out in phases from 2020, with the third in force since January 2026. It is worth checking the current status before each large production run or import.
If your product needs to comply before it goes on sale, relabeling does not have to be a separate project: it can happen in the same warehouse where your inventory already lives. That is how our NOM labeling and light assembly works, and how it connects to import and customs clearance.