referencesource/food-standards-of-identity

What a food must legally contain to use its name: FDA standards of identity, in one table

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• —Last verified: 2026-08-11
• —Stale after: 2027-08-11 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
• —Records: 41

The FDA standards of identity from 21 CFR Parts 131–169: for each standardized food, the composition minimums and maximums that a product must meet to be labeled with that name. Ice cream must contain not less than 10 percent milkfat and not less than 10 percent nonfat milk solids, and weigh not less than 4.5 pounds to the gallon (21 CFR 135.110); frozen custard is ice cream with at least 1.4 percent egg yolk solids, from the same section; peanut butter must be at least 90 percent peanuts (21 CFR 164.150); white chocolate, milk chocolate and the other cacao products each have their own minimums in Part 163. More than 250 standards exist, scattered across ~19 CFR parts, and no comprehensive table is published anywhere — FDA's own overview page describes the programme without tabulating it. Answers 'what has to be in ice cream legally?', 'what is the difference between ice cream and frozen custard?', 'does this product have an FDA standard of identity at all?'

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All sources are eCFR (US government work, public domain). We take facts plus short attributed quotes linking back.

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Sources

• —https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-131
• —https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-163
• —https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-135
• —https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-164

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