Food label claims: what to check before you print
Every claim on your package is a promise you have to be able to back up. Some claims have a legal definition, some need a certifier’s approval, and some mean only what you can prove. Check each one against your exact product before artwork goes to print.
Updated
Clean label has no single definition
Clean label is a market term for products made with familiar ingredients, simpler formulas or without selected additives. Shoppers, buyers and brands each draw the line in a different place, and it is not a US government certification.
Being undefined does not exempt your label from truthfulness and the other labeling requirements. State the specific attributes you can support, such as "no artificial colors," rather than implying that "clean" proves safety or better nutrition.
Name the specific attribute you can prove instead of printing a word that means something different to every reader.
Check “natural” against FDA policy
FDA has not set a formal definition of "natural" for food, but it has a long-standing policy on the term. FDA has considered it to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic, including any color additive regardless of source, has been included in or added to a food that would not normally be expected in it.
That policy does not address how the food was produced or processed, such as pesticide use or pasteurization, and it is not a nutrition or health claim. Meat, poultry and some egg products are regulated by USDA, which has its own rules for the term.
Check every ingredient, including flavors, colors, carriers and processing aids, against that policy before you use the word, and keep the supplier documents that support it.
Organic means USDA certification
Organic is a regulated claim under the USDA National Organic Program. To sell, label or represent a product as organic, the operation generally has to be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent, and the USDA organic seal can be used only on products that qualify for it.
The program sets different labeling categories depending on how much of the product is organic, and each category has its own rules for what you can say on the front panel and in the ingredient list. Your certifier reviews your label, so involve it before you finalize artwork, and make sure your co-packer’s facility is certified for the products it handles for you.
Organic is separate from "natural," from clean label and from Non-GMO Project verification. One does not establish the others.
Non-GMO Project Verified is a third-party program
Non-GMO Project Verified means a product has been evaluated against the Non-GMO Project Standard for GMO avoidance. It is a voluntary verification run by the Non-GMO Project, a nonprofit, through a participating technical administrator, and it is shown by the Butterfly mark.
Verification is not a guarantee of zero GMO material. It is also separate from organic certification and from federal bioengineered food disclosure obligations, and it is not a claim that a product is safer, healthier or allergen-free.
Use the Butterfly only under the program’s verification and licensing permissions, and coordinate artwork approval with your administrator; submitting an application does not authorize the mark. A self-declared "non-GMO" statement is different from verification and does not authorize the Butterfly either.
Get allergen and free-from statements right
Federal law requires packaged foods to declare the major food allergens they contain, either in the ingredient list or in a "Contains" statement. The list currently names milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, and some of them must be declared by the specific type, such as the kind of tree nut or fish.
"Gluten-free" has its own FDA definition. Most other free-from claims, such as "nut-free" or "dairy-free," have no specific definition, but they still have to be true, and a shopper with an allergy will rely on them. Precautionary statements such as "may contain" are voluntary and are not a substitute for controlling cross-contact.
Ask your co-packer which allergens run on the same line or in the same facility, how it cleans and verifies changeovers, and what testing it does. A free-from claim depends on the facility as much as on your formula.
A retailer’s banned list is not the law
Some retailers, especially in the natural channel, publish lists of ingredients they will not carry. Those lists are commercial requirements for that account. They can be stricter than the law, and they differ from one retailer to the next.
Meeting a retailer’s list does not make a claim legally sound, and an ingredient that is legal can still keep you off that retailer’s shelf. Check your formula against the standards of each account you are targeting, and check your claims against the law separately.
If you change the formula, re-test before you relabel
Removing a preservative, color, flavor or stabilizer to support a claim can change taste, texture, safety, shelf life, processing and cost. A shorter ingredient list does not make a product safer or more nutritious by itself.
Treat a claim-driven change as a new product until it has been tested. Confirm supplier specifications for the new ingredients, run the change with your co-packer, and re-test shelf life under the storage conditions you intend to use before you change any claim or artwork.
- Get specifications and supporting documents from the supplier of each new ingredient.
- Run a pilot batch with your co-packer and check the finished product against your specification.
- Re-test shelf life and stability under your intended storage and distribution conditions.
- Update your nutrition facts, ingredient list and allergen statement from the new formula.
- Model what the change does to your cost, minimum order and spoilage.
- Finalize the claim and artwork only once the product meets safety, quality and labeling requirements.
Get the exact claim reviewed for the exact product
Whether a claim is allowed depends on the product, the formula, the wording, where it appears on the package and where you sell it. Food, dietary supplement and personal care labeling rules are not interchangeable, and a claim that works for one product can fail for a close variation.
Before you print, have a regulatory consultant or food lawyer review the final artwork, the formula and the documents behind every claim. Printing a run of packaging and then finding a problem costs far more than a review.
- List every claim on the package, front and back, including the ones implied by images and names.
- For each claim, note whether it is defined by law, needs a certifier’s approval, or rests only on your own evidence.
- Collect the supporting documents: supplier specifications, certificates, test results and your co-packer’s allergen controls.
- Check each claim against the requirements of every retailer you are targeting.
- Have the final artwork, formula and documents reviewed before the print order goes in.
- Keep the file, and re-check it whenever an ingredient, supplier or facility changes.
Common questions
- Can I put “natural” on my food label?
- FDA has a policy on the term rather than a formal definition: it has considered "natural" to mean nothing artificial or synthetic has been added that would not normally be expected in the food. Check every ingredient against that policy and have the claim reviewed for your product.
- Do I need certification to say my product is organic?
- Generally, yes. Organic claims are regulated by the USDA National Organic Program, and the operation usually has to be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent before it can sell or label products as organic.
- Can I just write “non-GMO” on my label?
- A self-declared statement is different from Non-GMO Project verification and does not authorize the Butterfly. Any statement you make must be supportable and appropriate for the product and market.
- Is “may contain” required on food labels?
- No. Precautionary allergen statements are voluntary. They are not a substitute for controlling cross-contact, and they must not be misleading.