US Food Labeling Requirements: How Businesses Can Comply

Food labeling in the United States

When it comes to food safety and product information, food labeling is extremely important. Food labeling is one of the most basic ways that a food manufacturer can communicate important information to food distributors and consumers.

Understanding US Food Labelling Requirements

Food manufacturers in the U.S. put labels on their products for two reasons:

The first reason is that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires that food products be labeled with certain information. This information is important for product identification and food safety.

Having a food label with the manufacturer’s name and address, product weights, ingredients, allergens, and safe handling instructions provides key information to the food supply chain.

Secondly, large food retailers require barcoded food labels on products that they receive from food manufacturing facilities. Receiving barcoded products helps food retailers streamline their receiving and traceability processes.

Barcoded product labels also reduce human errors and allow food products to be tracked down to the individual product serial numbers.

See our blog on How GS1 Barcoding Enhances Food Manufacturing!

In the U.S., food labeling is such an important part of food safety that it is regulated by the federal government. The two governing bodies that regulate food labeling are FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). For the most part, the meat and poultry industry falls under the jurisdiction of FSIS. There are exceptions to that, but for this blog, we will be focusing on the FSIS regulations.

What is required on food labels in the US?

As mentioned above, two federal governing bodies regulate food labeling, the FDA and FSIS. It should be mentioned that there might also be local state food labeling requirements. However, any meat or poultry products that are marketed and sold across state lines are subject to federal regulation over the local state regulations.

FSIS has the governing jurisdiction over food labeling for meat and poultry products. The exceptions to this rule are if there is only a minimal amount of meat or poultry used in the final product, or if the final product has not historically been considered a meat or poultry product. For those two exceptions, the labeling jurisdiction falls under the FDA.

FSIS requires all meat and poultry processors to properly label “immediate containers.” The FSIS Labeling Requirements Guide defines an immediate container as any of the following, “bags, cardboard cartons, tray packs, and film bags enclosing processed or prepared meat products.” These containers must be properly labeled unless they are placed inside a shipping container and sold from one USDA establishment to another. Prepared meats that will be sold individually to consumers must have all of the proper labeling on each immediate container regardless of whether or not they are in a shipping container. 

Products can be labeled with either one label called a Principal Display Panel (PDP) or with both a Principal Display Panel and an additional Information Panel (IP) that includes other mandatory fields. When labeling a product, there are up to eight specific labeling requirements. Four of the requirements are required to be on the Principal Display Panel. Those requirements include the product name, handling statement, inspection legend/establishment number, and net weight.

The other four required fields can be placed on the Principal Display Panel or the optional Information Panel. These other fields include the manufacturer’s name and address, ingredient statements, nutritional facts, and safe handling instructions.