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 -
Other Label Claims
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.
