Essential Guide to USDA Food Labeling

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Essential Guide to USDA Food Labeling Ninth Edition Version 9.4 Revised May 2017 Prime Label Consultants, Inc.

3 Table of Contents Introduction... 1 Background... 3 Chapter 1: Regulatory Jurisdiction and Standard Labeling Features Regulatory Jurisdictions for Food Products Food Standards Required Labeling Features Key Sources of Regulatory Information... 8 Features of USDA Food Labels Chapter 2: Characteristics of an FSIS Food Label Principal Display Panel and Other Panels Foreign Languages Chapter 3: The Product Name Standardized Names Descriptive Product Names Fanciful Names Imitation/Substitute Products Chapter 4: Product Name Qualifiers Artificial Flavors/Smoke Flavoring Artificial Colors Antioxidants and Preservatives Added-Solution Statements Labeling Mechanically Tenderized Beef Products Product Name Modifications that Resemble Qualifiers Chapter 5: Ingredient Statement Location of Ingredient Statement Complex Ingredients Composite Ingredient Statement Ingredients at Two Percent or Less Poultry Specific /30 Rule Flavorings and Spices Spices and Flavorings that Impart Color Seasonings Corn Syrup Animal/Vegetable Fats Ham, Bacon and Other Cured Meats Coatings and Rubs "Cured with" Statements "And/or" and "May contain" Statements Other Ingredients Labeling Chapter 6: Signature Line Chapter 7: Net Weight Statement Location... 45

4 7.2. Wording Sizing Buffer Zone Stuffed Poultry Exemptions Chapter 8: Inspection Legend Chapter 9: Handling Statement Chapter 10: Safe Handling Instructions Chapter 11: Common Additional Features Ad-copy, Romance Language, and Product Vignettes Illustration and Serving Suggestion Allergen Statements Cooking Directions and Resource 1 Labeling Date Codes Standards of Identity, Processing, and Formulation Requirements for Meat and Poultry Products Chapter 12: Standard Identity for General Meat Products Mechanically Separated Meat Ground Beef, Chopped Beef Hamburger Beef Patties Fabricated Steaks Partially Defatted Beef Fatty Tissue (PDBFT) Partially Defatted Pork Fatty Tissue (PDPFT) Products Containing Blood Chapter 13: Standard Identity of General Poultry Products Light and Dark Poultry Meat Mechanically Separated Poultry Poultry Burgers, Poultry Patties Poultry Steaks or Filets Poultry Tenders and Poultry Tenderloins Chapter 14: Processing Standards for Meat and Poultry Baked Products Barbecue Roast Beef Parboiled and Steam Roasted Cooked Meat Products Certified Pork Irradiated Meat Irradiation of Poultry Moisture Protein Requirements Chapter 15: Cured Meat and Poultry Products Bacon Corned Beef Corned Beef Brisket Corned Beef Round and Other Corned Beef Cuts Cured Beef Tongue... 74

5 15.6. Cured Pork Products Ham Patties, Chopped Ham, Pressed Ham, Spiced Ham and Similar Products Country Ham and Dry Cured Hams and Shoulders Sausage Chapter 16: Standards of Identity for Meat and Poultry Food Products Beans with Franks in Sauce, Sauerkraut with Wieners and Juice, and similar products Beans with Cured Meat in Sauce Chow Mein or Chop Suey Vegetables with Meat Bockwurst Chili con Carne Chili con Carne with Beans Hash Corned Beef Hash Luncheon Meats Loaves Meat Loaf Meat Stews Scrapple Spaghetti with meat or meatballs in sauce Spaghetti Sauce with Meat Tamales Tripe with Milk Pork or Beef with Barbecue Sauce Meat Pies Pizzas Margarine or Oleomargarine Mixed Fat Shortening Lard and Meat Fats Lard and Leaf Lard Rendered Animal Fat(s) Meat Extract Fluid Extract of Meat Deviled Ham, Deviled Tongue, etc Potted and Deviled Meat Food Products Poultry, Canned Boned and Baby or Geriatric Food Poultry Dinners and Pies Poultry Rolls Poultry A La Kiev Poultry Nuggets Uncooked, Breaded, Poultry Products Other Poultry Dishes Defined in 9 CFR Maximum Percent Skin in Certain Poultry Products Ham Spread, Tongue Spread etc Breaded Products, Fritters... 96

6 Liver Meat Food Products Standards Other than Those Found in 9 CFR Food for Special Dietary Use Chapter 17: Food Safety and Approved Additives Substances Approved for Use Undocumented Approvals of Substances Preservatives in Product for Export Transparent, Semitransparent, Colored and Scatterprint Packaging Processing Aids/Dimethylpolysiloxan Agar-Agar in Jellied Products Binder Matrix in Restructured Meat Products Chapter 18: Special Labeling Statements and Product Claims Special Claims Generic Claims Geographic Terms Grade Designations The Term "Fresh" "All," "Pure," "100%," etc "Organic" Designation Label Approval and Inspection Requirements Chapter 19: Label Inspection Requirements Overview Record Keeping for Label Approvals Inspection Requirements/Inspector Roles Chapter 20: USDA/FSIS Labeling Organization and Approval Structure Background The Labeling and Program Delivery Staff Label Approval Categories Procedures for Label Approval at Labeling and Program Delivery Staff Submission Requirements Completing Form Previous Approvals Child Nutrition Labeling Calculating Restricted Ingredients Chapter 21: Calculating Restricted Ingredients Curing Agents Comminuted Meat Products Pumped or Tumbled Products Formula Showing Solution Only Formula Showing Meat and Solution Cure Accelerators Sodium Phosphates Antioxidants Fresh Sausages and Other Fresh Products Dried Sausages and Dried Meats

7 Conclusion Appendix I: Glossary Appendix II: Useful References Appendix III: Documents for USDA Submission Appendix IV: Summary of Child Nutrition (CN) Labeling Requirements Appendix V: Worksheets and Answer Keys for Practice Appendix VI: Sample Calculations of Product Formulas Appendix VII: Poultry Naming Conventions

9 THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO USDA LABELING 1 Introduction Over the last hundred years, as Americans shifted from growing their own food to procuring it in stores, food labels and the information they contain have become increasingly vital to maintaining trust in the nation s food supply. For almost half that time, Prime Label Consultants (PLC) has represented food manufacturers, helping them to achieve US regulatory compliance and label approval. In so doing, PLC has seen many of the most complex and common labeling issues that inadvertently trip up manufacturers large and small, delaying or sometimes negating their labels approved status. PLC has written The Essential Guide to USDA Food Labeling to help industry understand and unpack the complicated and expansive regulations that govern USDAregulated foods. Written in common, easy to understand language, the guide provides A background on USDA agencies and the regulatory process An in-depth overview of the required features of a food label Details on essential standards, processing and formulation requirements Insight into the intricacies of USDA s approval and oversight process Guidance for calculations of restricted ingredients Appendices, worksheets and a glossary for more information Because of the depth and complexity of USDA regulations, this guide does not cover the topic of nutrition labeling or claims. We leave that to the second volume in the series: The Essential Guide to Nutrition Labeling and Claims. Several sources of information are referred to in the text. We strongly recommend that you keep them handy and look up specific entries as you go through the guide (this will help you become accustomed to regulatory language): Code of Federal Regulations Title 9 (Part 200 to end) USDA Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book FSIS Directives FSIS Policy Memoranda See Appendix II for more information on obtaining these references. In addition, if your company owns PLC's EZ Form Nutrition and Label Compliance software, we urge you to take advantage of its many reference features while reviewing

10 2 PRIME LABEL CONSULTANTS, INC. this guide. You will find the program's regulations library, Form editor/generator, and restricted ingredients and claims calculators particularly useful. Prime Label Consultants goal in compiling this guide is to provide food industry professionals a comprehensive yet concise reference tool to help ensure USDA label compliance.

TO BE RESCINDED. 901: Meat standards of identity or composition.

TO BE RESCINDED. 901: Meat standards of identity or composition. ACTION: Final DATE: 10/17/2017 8:35 AM TO BE RESCINDED 901:3-31-11 Meat standards of identity or composition. (A) Labeling and Preparation of Standardized Products. Labels for products for which standards