What is the criteria for labelling your food product GOURMET?

hi all not sure what forum to pose this question ,so hope this suits

what is the criteria for labelling your food product GOURMET?

your answers will be appreciated

Until you get a sensible answer how about should look, smell, feel and taste delicious. :smile:

I know that the USDA has very specific requirements for almost every word that is placed on a label.  Your government probably has the same.  An example I can give is that we were turned down from using "Denver-Style Omelette" because what we had didn't fit the criteria. 

It helps to know the product, but in this case you are not making a health or nutritional claim (low sugar/salt/fat, healthy, etc).   No regulation on that.  Setanta is right - Meat *does* have specifically labelling laws according to quality (you can't just throw around "choice" or "prime").  But in general food there are no restrictions on  gourmet.   It's not regulated and it doesn't mean anything, but it opens you up to the slight risk of having a lawsuit if a customer perceives it as misbranding.  You'd have to have a lot of really bored customers though.  I guess ask the Food Babe if she considers it gourmet ?  (That was a joke, never take advice from that maniac) .  Here's a snip from pet food guidance -

Many pet foods are labeled as "premium," and some now are "super premium" and even "ultra premium." Other products are touted as "gourmet" items. Products labeled as premium or gourmet are not required to contain any different or higher quality ingredients, nor are they held up to any higher nutritional standards than are any other complete and balanced products.

The term "natural" is often used on pet food labels, although that term does not have an official definition either. AAFCO has developed a feed term definition for what types of ingredients can be considered “natural” and “Guidelines for Natural Claims” for pet foods.  For the most part, "natural" can be construed as equivalent to a lack of artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives in the product. As mentioned above, artificial flavors are rarely employed anyway. Artificial colors are not really necessary, except to please the pet owner's eye. If used, they must be from approved sources, the same as for human foods. Especially for high-fat dry products, some form of preservative must be used to prevent rancidity. Natural-source preservatives, such as mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E), can be used in place of artificial preservatives. However, they may not be as effective.

In the United States we also have a standard of identity system.  For example Yogurt has a standard of identity for parameters that must bet met such as fat content, how it's made, etc.

See: http://milkfacts.inf...of Identity.htmfor an example of this.

This is the reason people can batch crap and call it "Greek Yogurt" because there is no standard of identity for "Greek Yogurt".  

Hi Theresa,

Nothing enshrined in law in either Europe or Ireland. This link is for the UK; http://www.food.gov....ritguidance.pdf. Gourmet is not specifically mentioned. It's one of those vague marketing / food labelling issues. The definition of Gourmet is "of a kind or standard suitable for a gourmet", who in turn, is defined as a " person with a discerning palate". I consider myself, and my peer group will back me up on this, as a gourmet of high abv lager. Using this as an example, you can see the subjective nature of such a term. Just be careful of the terms mentioned in the attached link if you are exporting to the UK though.

hi all not sure what forum to pose this question ,so hope this suits

what is the criteria for labelling your food product GOURMET?

your answers will be appreciated

Dear theresa,

A little more info. might help, eg

Are you referring to Potatoes ?

Rgds / Charles.C