We are a US company working on a new product: Baba Ganoush.
I am looking to confirm my understanding of labeling regulations with regard to ingredients listing.
We are using a canned eggplant that, according to spec sheet says it contains: "roasted eggplant, salt at 1.1%, +/- 0.2%, "acidity (as citric acid)" at 0.4%, +/- 0.10%". the ingredients list says: "roasted eggplants, salt, citric acid, ascorbic acid"
To this, we add tahini, more salt, more citric acid and spices
My questions are related to the following sections of CFR labeling guidance:
CFR section 101.4.b.2 says
"An ingredient which itself contains two or more ingredients and which has an established commonor usual name, conforms to a standard established pursuant to the Meat Inspection or PoultryProducts Inspection Acts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or conforms to a definition andstandard of identity established pursuant to section 401 of the Federal Food, Drug, and CosmeticAct, shall be designated in the statement of ingredients on the label of such food by either of thefollowing alternatives:
(i) By declaring the established common or usual name of the ingredient followed by a parentheticallisting of all ingredients contained therein in descending order of predominance except that, ifthe ingredient is a food subject to a definition and standard of identity established in subchapterB of this chapter that has specific labeling provisions for optional ingredients, optionalingredients may be declared within the parenthetical listing in accordance with those provisions.
(ii) By incorporating into the statement of ingredients in descending order of predominance in thefinished food, the common or usual name of every component of the ingredient without listing theingredient itself."
CFR section 101.4.a.2 says
"The descending order of predominance requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section do notapply to ingredients present in amounts of 2 percent or less by weight when a listing of theseingredients is placed at the end of the ingredient statement following an appropriate quantifyingstatement, e.g., "Contains _ percent or less of ___" or "Less than _ percent of ___." The blankpercentage within the quantifying statement shall be filled in with a threshold level of 2 percent,or, if desired, 1.5 percent, 1.0 percent, or 0.5 percent, as appropriate. No ingredient to whichthe quantifying phrase applies may be present in an amount greater than the stated threshold."
101.22.a.2 says: Paprika, turmeric, and saffron or other spice s which are also colors, shall be declared as " spice
and coloring" unless declared by their common or usual name.
I would like to do #101.4.b.2.ii to avoid listing salt and citric acid twice. I have calculated the maximum amount of acidity that could be in the can and that plus the citric acid we add is less than 2% of the final recipe. this means that there is clearly less than 2% of both the citric acid and the ascorbic acid.
So, I think my best ingredients listing is: eggplant, tahini, salt, smoked paprika, spices, less than 2% citric and ascorbic acid
questions are:
1. can someone confirm that I've interpreted #101.4.b.2.ii correctly? I had originally thought I needed to say "roasted eggplant (eggplant, salt, citric acid, ascorbic acid), tahini, salt, citric acid, spices". Am I understanding this section correctly?
2. is it okay as I have listed above or do I need to say "less than 2% citric acid, less than 2% ascorbic acid" or "less than 2% citric acid and ascorbic acid"
2. am I interpreting 101.22.1.2 correctly in that I MUST either say "smoked paprika, spices" as I have it or "spice and coloring" even though I am not using it for its color, only for its flavor? I would really prefer to just say "spices" rather than calling out the smoked paprika. But is it correct that this would not be allowed?
