You can put "Made in USA" on a food label only if it's true in the FTC's strict sense. Under the FTC's Made in USA Labeling Rule, an unqualified claim means the final processing and all significant processing happen in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients are made and sourced here. One significant imported ingredient, cane sugar in a jam, say, rules out the plain claim; a truthful qualified claim, such as "made in USA with imported sugar", is the way around it. Meat and poultry follow USDA's own rule instead: "Product of USA" or "Made in the USA" means the animals were born, raised, slaughtered and processed here, and for a mixed product, every other ingredient is domestic too, with spices and flavorings excepted. States add their own origin rules: in Hawaii, a perishable food labeled "made in Hawaii" has at least 51% of its wholesale value added in the state. In the example below, an Oʻahu food maker checks two products against all three.
The short version
- Unqualified "Made in USA": final and significant processing here, and all or virtually all ingredients from here.
- A significant imported ingredient means a qualified claim, such as "made in USA with imported sugar".
- Meat and poultry: USDA's rule, born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.
- Mixed meat products: other ingredients domestic too, except spices and flavorings.
- Hawaii: "made in Hawaii" on perishable food needs at least 51% of the wholesale value added in Hawaii.
- A state claim also implies US origin, so check it against the federal rule as well.
- TaroStack keeps each ingredient's supplier and lot, so where an ingredient came from is on record. More below.
Which rule applies
| Product | Rule | Plain claim allowed when |
|---|---|---|
| Most foods | FTC, 16 CFR 323 | Final and significant processing here, all or virtually all ingredients here |
| Meat and poultry products | USDA, 9 CFR 412.3 | Animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed here; other ingredients domestic, spices and flavorings aside |
| "Made in Hawaii" perishables | Hawaii, HRS 486-119 | At least 51% of wholesale value added in Hawaii |
The rest of a food label is in food labeling requirements for small business, and country-of-origin rules for fresh foods in country of origin labeling requirements.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Unqualified claims | Final assembly or processing, and all significant processing, in the United States; all or virtually all ingredients made and sourced in the United States (16 CFR 323.2) |
| Other federal origin laws | The FTC rule doesn't supersede the meat, poultry and egg products acts' origin rules (16 CFR 323.5) |
| Meat and poultry | Single-ingredient products from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States; multi-ingredient products with all other ingredients domestic, spices and flavorings excepted (9 CFR 412.3) |
| Hawaii | A perishable product labeled made, produced or processed in Hawaii has at least 51% of its wholesale value added in the State (HRS 486-119(b)) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: chips and jam from Oʻahu
Windward Roots, the made-up taro business on Oʻahu I use in these examples, was asked by a store whether it could put "Made in Hawaii" stickers on its taro chips and guava jam:
| Product | Wholesale | Ingredients | Imported share | Inputs from outside Hawaii | Value added in Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taro chips, 5 oz bag | $2.92 | Taro, sunflower oil, sea salt: $0.81 | 0% | $0.43 | 85% |
| Guava jam, 9 oz jar | $5.50 | Guava, cane sugar, pectin, lemon: $1.47 | 27%, the sugar | $1.17 | 79% |
Both pass Hawaii's 51% test easily. The chips have no imported ingredients, with the taro grown in Hawaii and the oil and salt from the mainland, so "Made in Hawaii" and "Made in USA" both fit. The jam's imported cane sugar is more than a quarter of its ingredient cost, so the plain claim is out; its label reads "Made in Hawaii with imported cane sugar", which meets Hawaii's rule and doesn't make the unqualified federal claim. How the jam's ingredients are listed is in ingredient list order.
Get the checker
Download the origin claim checker. Two sheets: inputs, each product's ingredients and packaging with their cost, where they come from and whether they're imported; and claims, with the imported share of the ingredients, the value added in Hawaii as a share of the wholesale price, and what that means for each claim. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The checker is right until a supplier changes. When the oil supplier switches to an imported oil, or a short season means buying guava from elsewhere, the claim on the label quietly stops being true.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each ingredient's supplier and lot, so where an ingredient came from is on record.
Receiving by supplier. Each delivery is received from its supplier with its lot and date, and an ingredient can be bought from more than one supplier.
Batches by lot. Each batch of jam records which sugar and guava lots it used, so a question about one jar's origin leads to the lots and the suppliers.
True cost. Each product's cost comes from its recipe and batch, which is the starting point for the value-added sum.
| The job | Spreadsheet | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which supplier's sugar went in | Not recorded | Batches by lot |
| A supplier change | Noticed later, if at all | Each delivery by supplier |
| What a jar costs | Worked out once | True cost from the recipe |
Receiving, batches and costing 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.