:: Website Guide :: Disclaimer :: Recent Web Postings :: e-Newsletter :: Ag & Food Law Blog
:: Administrative Law :: Agritourism :: Alternative Dispute
   Resolution :: Animal Feeding
   Operations :: Animal Identification :: Animal Welfare :: Bankruptcy :: Biosecurity :: Biotechnology :: Business Organizations :: Checkoff Programs :: Clean Water Act :: Commercial
   Transactions :: Commodity Programs :: Conservation Programs :: Cooperatives :: Country of Origin
    Labeling :: Corporate Farming
    Laws :: Crop Insurance :: Environmental Law :: Estate Planning
    and Taxation :: Finance & Credit :: Food Safety :: Food Labeling :: International Law
   and Organizations :: International Trade :: Labor :: Landowner Liability :: Local Food Systems :: Marketing Orders :: National Organic
    Program :: Packers and Stockyards :: Perishable Agricultural
   Commodities :: Pesticides :: Production Contracts :: Renewable Energy :: Secured Transactions :: Specialty Crops :: Sustainable Agriculture :: Urbanization and
    Agriculture :: Water Law

Last updated June 2009

Food Labeling

Overview

Governmental intervention in food labeling typically aims at improving human health and safety, supporting domestic agricultural and food manufacturing industries, and averting international trade disputes. Pursuant to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and its amendments, food labeling addresses nutritional information and is required for most prepared foods, such as breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, drinks, etc., whereas nutrition labeling for raw produce (fruits and vegetables) and fish is voluntary.
Read the full overview

Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.

Major Statutes

Agriculture Marketing Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 1621-1638

Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1385

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1451-1461

Federal Alcohol Administration Act, 27 U.S.C. §§ 201-219

Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 301-399

Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, 21 U.S.C § 343

Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 606-611, 619

Poultry and Poultry Products Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 457-458

Regulations

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act Regulations, 16 C.F.R. §§ 500-503

General Regulations for the Enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,
21 C.F.R. §§ 101-199

General FDA Food Labeling Regulations, 21 C.F.R. §§ 100-169

General FDA Dietary Supplement Regulations, 21 C.F.R. §§ 190-203

Federal Register Rules Open for Comment

Federal Register Digest

Case Law

Note: Recently summarized cases are listed and linked in Recent Postings.

Case Law Index for Food Labeling

Administrative Law Decisions

FDA Dockets Management

Federal Trade Commission Actions

Office of the Administrative Law Judges

USDA National Appeals Division

USDA Judicial Officer's Decisions

Center Research Publications

State-Level Catfish Labeling Laws (Springsteen, 2008)

United States Food Law Update II (Roberts, 2006)

United States Food Law Update (Roberts & Alsbrook, 2005)

European Union Food Law Update II (Coutrelis, 2006)

European Union Food Law Update (Coutrelis, 2005)

Congressional Research Service Reports

CRS Subject(s):
Biotechnology
Animal Agriculture
Food Safety

Agricultural Law Bibliography

Introduction | Keyword Search | Browse Categories

Legal publications on Food Labeling:
Biotechnology
Food and Drug Law
Fruits and Vegetables - Perishable Agricultural Commodities
Pesticides, Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides, Fertilizers

Reference Resources

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
Food Purchase Specifications
Quality Standards

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (U.S. Department of Treasury)
Advertising
Beer Homepage
Distilled Spirits Homepage
Labeling
Wine Homepage
COLA Registry Database

Economic Research Service (ERS)
The Economics of Food Labeling

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Dietary Supplements: An Advertising Guide for Industry
Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
FTC Health Publications

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Guidance for Industry: A Food Labeling Guide
Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition
Food Labeling Guide
Draft Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling of Biotech Foods
Food Labeling Publications
Qualified Health Claims
Center for Veterinary Medicine: Pet Foods
Food Ingredients & Packaging
Food Labeling & Packaging Survey
How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Panel
The Food Pyramid: The Food Label Connection
Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements
Transfats Labeling Information

Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
Food Labeling Fact Sheets
General Labeling Policies
Ingredients Policies
Labeling and Consumer Protection Service
Organics and Other Labeling Claim Policies
Packaging Policies

Other Federal Resources

Child Nutrition Labeling

National Agricultural Library Food and Nutrition Information Center (NAL)

Food Labeling Topic Page (NAL)

What's In The Foods You Eat Search Tool (Agricultural Research Service

FDA Needs to Better Leverage Resources, Improve Oversight, and Effectively Use
Available Data to Help Consumers Select Healthy Foods (GAO-08-597)

Federal Citizen Information Center

National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S. Department of Commerce)

Fact Sheet on Metric Labeling for Consumer Packages

State Weights and Measures Laws

Food Labeling (Consumer.gov)

International Resources

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ecolabeling and Fisheries Technical Paper
Labeling to Communicate

World Health Organization (WHO)
Nutrition Labels and Health Claims: The Global Regulatory Environment

World Trade Organization (WTO)
Dispute Settelement Gateway
Geographical Indications
TRIPS Agreement
WTO Publications

Agreement Between the United States and the European Community on Trade in Wine

Agreement Between the United States and Mexico on Trade in Tequila

European Union
Regulation Concerning the Traceability and Labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms
Homepage for Food and Nutrition Labelling Issues
Product Labelling and Packaging
Labelling of Animal Feed Materials

Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code

Japan's Labeling Standard for Genetically Modified Foods

Publications

Food Labeling: Toward National Uniformity (National Academies Press, 1992)

Additional Resources

Food Labeling Posts (United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog)

Food and Drug Law Institute

Warning:

You are using an older web browser that is not compatible with basic Web standards.

We recommend that you upgrade to one of the following browsers:

Windows or Mac Users:

Netscape 6+, Opera 6+, MSIE 6+

Linux OS:

Netscape 6+, Konqueror

In an effort to create a more organized World Wide Web, the W3C has created many new Web layout standards. The key focus of their effort is to provide the best possible interoperability between the different browsing programs available.

In the days of the browser wars between Netscape and Microsoft, many hacks were propagated by the competing companies. However, today these hacks have done more to hurt the Web than to help the battling companies. By downloading and installing one of the programs listed above, the Web will be one step closer to eliminating these hacks and bugs.

Click here to go view current Web browser usage statistics.