A continuing guarantee is a signed statement from a food supplier to a buyer that every shipment it sends, from now on, won't be adulterated or misbranded under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Grocers and distributors ask for one because federal law protects a seller who receives food in good faith under such a guarantee, signed by the US supplier it came from. FDA publishes suggested wording, two short forms, one for a single shipment and one that continues; a buyer's own form is often longer, with indemnity and insurance clauses that go well beyond it. In the example below, a small food maker signs FDA's continuing form for a grocery chain and keeps a log of which customers have one and when they're due for renewal. Below is what the guarantee means, the wording, what a buyer's form may add, keeping it current, and a free template.
The short version
- A continuing guarantee says each future shipment won't be adulterated or misbranded.
- A buyer asks for it because the law protects a seller who holds one from its US supplier.
- FDA's suggested wording is two sentences; use it unless the buyer insists on its own form.
- A buyer's form may add indemnity, insurance and recall costs; read those before signing.
- Keep a log: who has one, when it was signed, when they want it renewed.
- The guarantee is only as good as your records: lots, labels and traceability.
- TaroStack keeps the lot records a guarantee depends on. More below.
What it means
The law says a person who delivers food that turns out to be adulterated or misbranded isn't subject to the penalties if they can show a guaranty or undertaking, signed by and naming the person in the United States from whom they received it in good faith, saying it wasn't adulterated or misbranded (21 U.S.C. 333(c)(2)). A guarantee can cover one shipment, written on the invoice, or be general and continuing, covering every shipment from then on (21 CFR 7.13). So the grocer's guarantee from you is its protection, and it moves the responsibility for what's in the jar back to the maker, where it already was.
FDA's suggested wording
FDA's general and continuing form reads, with the names filled in:
The article comprising each shipment or other delivery hereafter made by (your business) to, or in the order of, (the customer and address) is hereby guaranteed, as of the date of such shipment or delivery, to be, on such date, not adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and not an article which may not, under the provisions of section 404, 505, or 512 of the act, be introduced into interstate commerce.
It's signed, with your post-office address. The limited form, for a single shipment, makes the same guarantee for the articles listed on that invoice. The guarantee for a shipment ends if the food becomes adulterated or misbranded after you've delivered it, through the store's handling, for instance (21 CFR 7.13).
What a buyer's form may add
A chain or distributor often sends its own vendor agreement with the guarantee folded in, and the extra clauses are the part to read: an indemnity that makes you pay the buyer's costs and legal fees for claims about your product, a requirement for product liability insurance with the buyer named as an additional insured, recall cost recovery, and compliance with the buyer's own standards. None of that is in FDA's form. Some of it is normal, insurance especially; some of it, an open-ended indemnity, is worth a lawyer's hour before you sign. How a certificate of insurance fits in is in insurance for a small food business. This is general information, not legal advice.
A worked example
Pine Barrens Pantry, a made-up small food maker in Hammonton, New Jersey, I use in these examples, keeps a log:
| Customer | Signed | Renew every | Renew by | Form | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrens Road Grocery | 2026-10-14 | 12 months | 2027-10-14 | FDA's form | |
| Shore Natural Foods | 2025-09-02 | 12 months | 2026-09-02 | Theirs, with an insurance clause | Overdue |
| Pinelands Co-op | 2026-03-18 | 24 months | 2028-03-18 | FDA's form |
A continuing guarantee doesn't expire under FDA's form, but buyers may ask for a fresh one each year, with a new certificate of insurance; the log catches the one that's overdue before the buyer's vendor team does. A buyer that asks for a guarantee may also ask for a product specification sheet; what goes on one is in product specification sheet.
The records behind it
Signing a guarantee is easy; being able to stand behind it is the work. That means labels that match the recipe, lots on every case, supplier documents for the ingredients, and a way to say which customers got which lot. How to keep supplier certificates on file is in certificate of analysis tracking.
Get the template
Download the continuing guarantee letter and log. Two sheets: a letter that writes out FDA's suggested continuing form with your business, the customer, the date and the signer filled in, ready to print and sign; and a log of which customers have a guarantee, when it was signed, how often they want it renewed, and which are overdue or due within 30 days. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Fifteen wholesale customers, each with a guarantee and a certificate of insurance on its own schedule, and a guarantee that's only worth something if every case can be traced. The log keeps the paperwork; it can't say which customers got a lot of jars with a labeling error.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the lot records a guarantee depends on. Plainly: it doesn't write or track the guarantee letters themselves; the template does that.
Lots from supplier to customer. Ingredients are received by supplier lot, batches note the lots they used automatically, and finished cases go into lots with their dates. One report walks any lot to every customer who got it, and what's still on your shelves.
Labels that match the recipe. Each product is a recipe with versions, so a change of ingredient is a new version, and the moment to check the label before the next shipment goes out under the guarantee.
And the proof. Timed, logged traceability drills show a buyer or an inspector how fast a lot can be traced.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which customers got lot 2610-03? | Read the invoices | One report, lot to customer |
| Did the recipe change since the label? | Memory | Recipe versions |
| Show a buyer you can trace a lot | Talk them through it | A timed, logged traceability drill |
| Guarantee letters and renewals | This template | This template |
Lots, recalls, recipes and traceability drills are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.