FDA vs USDA labels: which rules apply to you?

Two federal agencies split US food labeling. USDA's FSIS regulates meat, poultry, and processed egg products. FDA regulates essentially everything else, including seafood, shell eggs, game meats, and every baked good, jam, candy, sauce, and snack a cottage-food maker sells. Since 2016, one quirky exception: catfish moved to USDA.

The percentage thresholds

Mixed products follow rough thresholds: a product generally falls under USDA when it contains 2% or more cooked meat/poultry (or ~3% or more raw). Below that, FDA rules apply.

The classic illustration: cheese pizza is FDA; pepperoni pizza is USDA. Chicken broth in a soup, a beef ravioli, a chicken pot pie: each can flip agencies based on meat percentage.

What changes between the agencies

• Pre-approval: USDA labels historically require agency review (generic approval covers many cases today); FDA never pre-approves labels. Compliance is your responsibility.
• Inspection legends:USDA products carry the round inspection mark and establishment number; FDA products don't.
• Nutrition panel:both use the familiar Nutrition Facts format. USDA's rules mirror FDA's 2016 update for most practical purposes.
• Cottage food: state cottage-food programs almost universally exclude meat and poultry products, which is why home makers rarely touch USDA jurisdiction at all.

What this means for small makers

If you bake, preserve, ferment, or candy, you're FDA. Your label needs the elements in our exemptions guide: identity, ingredients, allergens, net weight, and your business identity, plus a Nutrition Facts panel once you scale past the exemptions. If your product includes real meat content, talk to FSIS or a labeling consultant before printing anything.