Urging the FDA to Require Labels for Animal-Derived Products

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, along with 16 other organizations, academics, physicians, and experts representing a wide range of interests, submitted a petition for rulemaking urging the FDA to require products that contain animal-derived ingredients to be labeled with a disclaimer stating as such, identifying the species in the statement.  

Issue Summary: On September 24, 2024, Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), along with 16 other organizations, academics, physicians, and experts representing a wide range of interests, submitted a petition for rulemaking urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require products that contain animal-derived ingredients to be labeled with a disclaimer stating as such, identifying the species in the statement. Research findings detailed in the petition show that a majority of the public cares about what is in their food, for reasons ranging from religious and moral convictions to food safety and allergen concerns, and that such a disclaimer would successfully resolve the current confusion consumers have about which products contain animal ingredients, and which ingredients themselves are animal-derived.     

Congress designed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to protect public health and prevent fraudulent activity with respect to food, drugs, and other public-health products. As the agency chiefly tasked with enforcing the FDCA, the FDA’s primary purpose is to safeguard and protect consumers and promote public health and safety. The FDA acknowledges that it is “responsible for assuring that foods sold in the U.S. are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.” The FDA has a duty to ensure that product labeling is not false or misleading.  

Under the FDA’s current food-labeling requirements, consumers cannot discern whether a product contains animal ingredients. This includes when shoppers analyze product packaging at the store as well as later at home when they open and consume the food product. For example, animal-derived ingredients may be present in the form of an ingredient that can be sourced from either an animal or a plant — such as Vitamin D — yet its source is not disclosed on the packaging. In a known real-world instance, a consumer contacted Planters asking about the gelatin in its roasted nut products (products that most consumers would reasonably — but incorrectly — assume would not contain any animal-derived ingredients). The company’s customer service department was not able to tell the consumer whether the gelatin was pig- or cow-derived. There is often no way for consumers to discern whether an ingredient is animal-derived, and if so from which type of animal, based on the information provided on the packaging or from analyzing the food in the package.  

Whether a food product contains animal-derived ingredients — and if so, which animal(s) those ingredients come from — is a material fact. For religious, moral, food safety, and allergen concerns, consumers have a significant interest in the disclosure of animal-derived ingredients. The difference between products that contain animals and those that do not is a material difference in type. For example, to someone with alpha-gal syndrome — an allergy that can cause anaphylactic shock after exposure to even trace amounts of mammal-derived ingredients — it matters a great deal whether a product contains animal-derived ingredients that could trigger an allergic reaction. Similarly, to someone who cannot consume foods that come from cows for religious reasons, there is a very real difference between a food product that uses cow-derived rennet versus microbially sourced rennet. The physical ingredients being used are different, and that matters to consumers.   

In June 2024, ALDF released a report conducted by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, which confirmed that consumers care about what goes into the food products they purchase. This report also confirmed that, despite caring about these ingredients, consumers are not able to accurately discern whether a product contains animal-derived ingredients based on current FDA labeling requirements. The study revealed that a simple disclaimer for animal-derived ingredients added to food labels would significantly help consumer understanding, which would safeguard public health and safety — bringing the FDA into compliance with its Congressional mandate and previously stated policy goals. 

The coalition submitting the petition with ALDF includes the Center for Food Safety, Center for Jewish Food Ethics, Earthjustice, Farm Forward, FarmSTAND, Food & Water Watch, Food Empowerment Project, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, The Raven Corps, Truth in Advertising, UCLA Resnick Center’s Michael Roberts and Diana Winters, Lewis & Clark Law School’s Rajesh K. Reddy and Hira Jaleel, and George Washington University Law School’s Randall S. Abate and Kathy Hessler. 

What action has been taken and related to what law? A petition has been sent to the FDA urging the agency to issue a rule requiring products containing animal-derived ingredients to be labeled with a disclaimer that states the product contains animal-derived ingredients, identifying the species in the statement. 

Why this case is important: For religious, moral, food safety, and allergen concerns, consumers have a significant interest in the disclosure of animal-derived ingredients. However, under the FDA’s current food-labeling requirements, consumers cannot discern whether a product contains animal ingredients, though the difference between products that contain animals and those that do not is critically important. For example, to someone with alpha-gal syndrome — an allergy that can cause anaphylactic shock after exposure to even trace amounts of mammal-derived ingredients — it matters a great deal whether a product contains animal-derived ingredients that could trigger an allergic reaction. Similarly, to someone who cannot consume foods that come from cows for religious reasons, there is a very real difference between a food product that uses cow-derived rennet versus microbially sourced rennet. The physical ingredients being used are different, and that matters to consumers.