Standards of identity for food are mandatory requirements that are set by a governing body to determine what a food product must contain to be marketed under a certain name in allowable commerce. Mandatory standards, which differ from voluntary grades and standards applied to agricultural commodities, protect the consumer by ensuring a label accurately reflects what is inside (for example, that mayonnaise is not an imitation spread or that ice cream is not a similar but different frozen dessert). A US trade organization defines the term as follows:

A standard of identity sets out what ingredients a product must contain, which ingredients it may contain, and any requirements of manufacturing. For example, "whisky" is defined as "a potable alcoholic distillate obtained from a mash of cereal grain saccharified by diastase of malt or by other enzymes and fermented by the action of yeast". It may contain caramel and flavouring. No other ingredients are allowed. If someone were to produce a whisky containing a dye, they would not be permitted to call the product "whisky", since dye is not a permitted additive. Standards of identity are set out in the Food and Drug Regulations. They may be identified by the symbol " ''" following the product name in boldface type. As such, they are official common names for products and no other name can be substituted.

A 2014 lawsuit in the United States illustrated one usage of such regulations. When Hampton Creek implied in its advertising that mayonnaise being marketed by Unilever was not "real" mayonnaise, the latter sued Hampton for defamation and cited the definitions promulgated by the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

United States

Each State within the US reserves the authority to set standards of identity for foods marketed within the state. In addition, the departments of the Federal government carry authority to set requirements for food products that are offered for interstate commerce. Such standards are issued by the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, the

or the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

Canada

The

Canadian Food Inspection Agency The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA; french: Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments) is a regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, plants, and animals (FPA) in Canada, thus enhancing the health and well-being of ...

issues standards of identity.

Australia and New Zealand

The Commonwealth nations use many of the same terms employed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Food Standards (Australia and New Zealand), ''Food Standards Code''

Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) (Māori: ''Te Mana Kounga Kai – Ahitereiria me Aotearoa''), formerly Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), is the statutory authority in the Australian Government Health portfolio that is ...

, formerly Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), is the governmental body responsible for developing food standards for Australia and New Zealand.

France

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

(AOC), "term of controlled origin" is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products.

Italy

Denominazione di Origine Controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipi ...

is the Italian quality assurance label for food products and especially wines.

References