USDA updates guidelines for voluntary “Product of USA” label claims

• State endorsement program logos are not exempt from the final rule; however, state endorsement program logos that do not include geographic depictions of the state may be used if the establishment maintains supporting documentation for use of the logo.
• Geographic depictions of the United States or a U.S. State or territory may be used on the labels of products without a qualifying statement only if the FSIS-regulated product was derived from an animal born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States, or a U.S. State or territory. If the product does not meet these requirements, the depiction must be accompanied by a qualifying statement.
• Voluntary multi-country origin claims that include the United States and a foreign country are allowed on products under specified conditions.
• Multi-ingredient products made with edible natural casings that are processed outside the United States are eligible for use of the voluntary U.S.-origin label claims.
• Although FSIS expected FDA-regulated “ingredients” to be of U.S. origin, “ingredients” do not include sub-ingredients for the purposes of determining domestic origins.
• U.S.-origin label claims that do not provide meaningful information about preparation and processing steps will not be approved, even if the claim is combined with a claim that does provide meaningful preparation and processing information.

USDA last updated its label approval guidelines in March 2024 to reflect changes made pursuant to the final rule for voluntary U.S.-origin label claims.³ Importantly, the updates to the labeling guidelines discussed in this memorandum do not alter the contents of the final rule. Rather, the revised guidelines further clarify how companies can comply with voluntary U.S.-origin label claim requirements. Notably, the policy articulated through this updated compliance guideline is not fully the same as the Federal Trade Commission’s policy for Made in the USA claims. We provide more details on the clarifications in the updated guidance below.

Overview of the Rule

General Requirements

Under the final rule, the voluntary label claims “Product of USA” and “Made in the USA” may be used on FSIS-regulated products that meet the following criteria:

• Single ingredient products that are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States; and
• Multi-ingredient products, if

1. All FSIS-regulated products within the multi-ingredient product are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States;
2. All other ingredients, except for spices and flavorings, are of domestic origin; and
3. The preparation and processing of the product occurred in the United States.

Images of the U.S. flag are considered U.S.-origin claims.

U.S.-origin claims are eligible for generic approval.

The same criteria apply for state or locality origin claims (e.g., “Product of Montana” or “sliced and packaged in Oklahoma”).

Qualified U.S.-origin claims that focus on specific components or processing steps must specify the preparation and processing steps that occurred in the United States. The labeling guidance explains that the description of the processing step must “provide meaningful consumer information about the specific type of preparation and processing steps that occurred in the United States.” For example, a generic statement such as “manufactured in the United States” is not specific enough, but a statement such as “sliced and packaged in the United States” on a single-ingredient pork tenderloin would be an appropriately phrased claim.

The final rule and revised labeling guidelines apply to products marketed in the United States. Products exported from the United States remain subject to the requirements provided in the FSIS Export Library, which may specify different requirements for U.S. origin marking for international trade purposes.

State Endorsement Program Logos

FSIS declined a commentor’s request to exempt “state endorsement program” logos (e.g. “Virginia’s Finest” or “Go Texan”) from voluntary U.S.-origin claim requirements. FSIS explained that if a state endorsement program logo includes the statement “Product of (U.S. State)” or “Made in (U.S. State),” the product must meet the final rule requirements for the label use of the voluntary claims “Product of (U.S. State)” or “Made in (U.S. State).” Further, if a state endorsement program logo includes an image of the state’s flag, the logo may only be used on an FSIS-regulated product label without a qualifying statement if it meets the general state-origin requirements described above. State endorsement program logos that include a state’s flag may be used to designate the state origin of components of an FSIS-regulated product's preparation and processing as long as the logo is accompanied by a description of the preparation and processing steps that occurred in the state upon which the claim is being made (e.g., “beef harvested and packaged in Texas”).

Finally, FSIS explains that if a state endorsement program logo does not include the statement “Product of (U.S. State)” or “Made in (U.S. State),” nor the image of a state flag or other “geographic emblematic design,” then the logo may be used on FSIS-regulated products if the establishment maintains supporting documentation for use of the logo. The labeling guidelines state that this support can be a certificate from the state agency running the certification program or a letter stating the label complies with the requirements. FSIS expects the supporting documentation to be updated annually.

Geographic Depictions

FSIS updated its labeling guidelines to clarify that statements, words, pictures, designs, or devices depicting the United States, or a U.S. State or territory, may be used on the labels of FSIS-regulated products only if the FSIS-regulated product was derived from an animal born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the depicted geographical location. For example, if a map of Virginia is displayed on an FSIS-regulated poultry product, then the poultry must have been born, raised, slaughtered, and processed within Virginia.

When geographic depictions of the United States or a U.S. State or territory are displayed on a multi-ingredient FSIS-regulated product, FSIS indicates that other ingredients do not need to be of domestic origin. However, if the other ingredients do not meet the general requirements described above, then FSIS expects the depiction to be accompanied by a qualifying statement describing the domestic origins of the preparation and processing steps of the animal from which the product was derived. By way of example, FSIS explains that a label for a multi-ingredient poultry patty product derived from an animal that was born, raised, slaughtered, and partially processed in North Carolina, then packaged in Arizona, that includes the outline of the State of Arizona must be accompanied by a qualifying statement describing the preparation and processing steps that occurred in Arizona (e.g., “Packaged in Arizona”).

Multi-Country Origin and Product of North America Claims

Multi-Country Origin

The revised guidelines clarify that a voluntary multi-country origin label claim that includes the United States and a foreign country (e.g., “Product of USA and Canada”) is allowed on products if the following requirements are met:

1. The animal from which the product was derived was born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in either the United States or the listed foreign country;
2. In the case of a multi-ingredient product, all other ingredients (other than spices and flavorings) are of the origin of either the United States or the listed foreign country; and
3. The claim is accompanied by qualifying language describing the preparation and processing steps that occurred in the United States (e.g., “Product of USA and Canada, Packaged in the USA”).

Product of North America

Although not a U.S.-origin claim, “Product of North America” is allowed as a voluntary label claim on products if the claim is truthful and not misleading and complies with the FSIS requirements for use of label terms having geographical significance.⁴ In other words, to make a “Product of North America” claim, the animal from which the product was derived must be born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in North America.

Multi-Ingredient Products

The revised guidelines clarify that for purposes of meeting the requirements for use of the voluntary U.S.-origin label claims “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” on multi-ingredient products, the requirement that “all other ingredients other than spices and flavorings” in the product must be of domestic origin does not include sub-ingredients of an ingredient. FSIS provides the example that a soy sauce ingredient must be produced in the United States to be considered of domestic origin, but the sub-ingredients within these items (e.g. soybeans and wheat) do not need to be produced within the United States in order to satisfy U.S.-origin label claim requirements.

Additionally, recognizing that most edible natural casings produced in the United States are exported to foreign countries to be processed and then imported back to the U.S. for use in multi-ingredient meat products, FSIS clarified that multi-ingredient products made with edible natural casings processed outside the United States are eligible for use of the voluntary U.S.-origin label claims, provided that the product meets all other requirements under the rule.

Voluntary U.S.-Origin Claims Other Than “Product of USA” and “Made in the USA”

Consistent with the final rule, FSIS reemphasized that labels that use a voluntary U.S.-origin claim other than “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” must include a description to indicate which preparation and processing steps occurred in the United States, and that such a description must provide consumers meaningful information about the U.S.-origin components of the product’s preparation and processing. The agency indicated that generalized claims such as “Processed in the United States” and “Manufactured in the United States” are too broad and do not provide consumers with the necessary meaningful information about what preparation and processing steps took place in the United States.

Further, FSIS clarified that U.S.-origin label claims that do not provide meaningful information about preparation and processing steps will not be approved, even if the claim is combined with a claim that does provide meaningful preparation and processing information. For example, “Processed and Packaged in the USA” is an impermissible U.S.-origin claim because “processed” does not provide consumers meaningful information about preparation and processing steps. However, “Sliced and Packaged in the USA” satisfies the requirements for a U.S.-origin claim because it provides specific preparation and processing steps to consumers. Finally, FSIS clarified that the label claim “cooked in” provides meaningful information about U.S. preparation and processing steps.

Additional Clarifications

FSIS also provided the following notable clarifications:

• The meaning of “raised” is “from birth to slaughter.” If an animal raised in the United States for a period less than from birth to slaughter, the claim must be accompanied by a truthful description of the length of time the animal was raised in the United States (e.g., the label claim “raised for at least 30 days in the USA” on a single ingredient beef chuck roast.)
• The term “harvested” may be used to mean “slaughtered.”
• FSIS clarified that “spices” and “flavorings,” which are exempt from the requirement that all other ingredients be of domestic origin for an FSIS-regulated multi-ingredient product label to make voluntary U.S.-origin claims, refer to the ingredients defined in 9 CFR 317.2(f)(i)(A) and (B) and 381.118(c)(1) and (2).
• As explained in the final rule, the regulatory requirements for voluntary U.S.-origin label claims do not apply to products intended for export from the United States.
• In response to concerns about the recordkeeping requirements, FSIS explained that the recordkeeping requirements provide flexibility and that establishments may choose which types of documentation to maintain.

Next Steps

Establishments voluntarily using a U.S.-origin claim subject to the final rule will need to comply with the new regulatory requirements by FSIS’s next uniform compliance date for new labeling regulations, January 1, 2026. Companies should review their production portfolios to identify claims that may need to be revised or removed and to ensure that they possess appropriate supporting documentation for any claims they intend to make after January 1, 2026.

We will continue to monitor changes to FSIS policy on U.S.-origin claims and other labeling regulatory requirements. Please contact us if you have any questions about this final rule or the revised guidance.

Authored by Brian Eyink and Chigozie Akah.