Compliance

Regulation by region

Dried food is regulated like any other food, with a few category-specific twists: low-moisture Salmonella control, sulfite declaration, and jerky's special place under meat inspection. This page maps who regulates what in the major markets and what a small dried-food producer actually has to do. It is orientation, not legal advice — always confirm with the authority itself.

United States

Who regulates what

Core duties for a small producer

• Facility registration with the FDA (renew every two years, in the window Oct–Dec of even years).
• A written food safety plan under Preventive Controls: hazard analysis, process/food-allergen/sanitation preventive controls, monitoring, corrective actions, verification — signed by a "preventive controls qualified individual" (PCQI, via a standard FSPCA course).
• cGMP basics: personnel hygiene, sanitary facilities and equipment, water safety, pest control.
• Labelling to 21 CFR 101: statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list (descending weight), the nine major allergens, nutrition facts (small-business exemptions exist but require filing/calculation care), sulfite declaration above 10 ppm, business name and address.
• Recall plan — required under FSMA, and the basis of the recall management page.
• Cottage food route: many states allow shelf-stable dried fruit, herbs and some baked goods from a home kitchen — often excluding meat, fish and dairy. Sales caps, label requirements and direct-sale-only restrictions apply. Search "[your state] cottage food law".

European Union

The legal frame

• Regulation (EC) 178/2002 — general food law: safety, traceability one step back and forward, withdrawal/recall duties, and the Rapid Alert System (RASFF).
• Regulation (EC) 852/2004 — hygiene: HACCP-based procedures mandatory for all food businesses; registration/approval of premises with the local competent authority.
• Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 — labelling: mandatory particulars, allergen emphasis in the ingredient list, nutrition declaration (with limited exemptions), QUID for emphasised ingredients, durability marking, lot marking.
• Additives and sulfites under 1333/2008: sulfites above 10 mg/kg must be named (E 220–228) and flagged.
• Health and nutrition claims only from the authorised claims register (Regulation 1924/2006).

Core duties for a small producer

• Register (or get approved, for animal-origin products) with the local food authority before trading.
• Write an HACCP plan proportionate to the operation; keep it living and reviewed.
• Full traceability records — supplier lots in, customer shipments out, kept and retrievable.
• Compliant labels; allergen emphasis is the most common small-producer failure.
• Official controls apply — inspectors may visit, sample and enforce; the Feed & Food hygiene "trilogy" (852, 853, 854) defines their powers.

United Kingdom

Retained EU food law with the FSA/food standards authorities in charge: registration with the local authority, HACCP-based procedures, UK-specific labelling (a UK address for the FBO, and post-Brexit health-mark changes for animal products), Natasha's Law (PPDS labelling) where prepacked-for-direct-sale products are made. The practical overlap with EU rules is high, but the paperwork is national — check gov.uk food business guidance.

Canada

• Safe Food for Canadians Act & Regulations (SFCA/SFCR) — licensing, preventive control plans (PCP), traceability, and labelling under CFIA.
• Small producers may qualify for modified licensing requirements based on activity and revenue.
• Bilingual labelling (English/French) is mandatory for most prepackaged food.
• Jerky and dried meat fall under federal meat inspection when traded inter-provincially or exported.

Australia & New Zealand

• Food Standards Code (FSANZ) — Standard 1.2.x for labelling, 1.6.1 microbiological limits, 4.x primary production and processing standards.
• State/territory food authorities administer notification, skills-and-knowledge requirements, and food safety supervisor rules for retail-scale operations.
• Nutrition information panels are mandatory with narrow exemptions; allergen labelling (PEAL — plain English allergen labelling) has strict format rules.

India

• FSS Act 2006, administered by FSSAI — licensing (Form B) or registration for tiny operators (annual turnover below the FSSAI threshold); Schedule 4 sets hygiene/sanitation duties by category.
• Labelling per FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations: name, ingredients, nutritional info, veg/non-veg logo, allergen declaration, lot/batch, best-before.
• Sulfites and preservatives must conform to permitted-additive schedules; dried fruit and vegetables have their own product standards.

South Africa

• Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act (FCD Act) plus the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act regulations administered by the Department of Health; municipal bylaws govern premises certification.
• Regulation R638 (governing general hygiene requirements for food premises, transport and facilities) is the operating baseline; certificates of acceptability are issued by local authorities.
• Labelling under R146 (foodstuffs labelling and advertising) with allergen and date-marking duties; the Department sets dried-product standards through the South African Bureau of Standards where applicable.

Brazil

• ANVISA regulates food safety, additives and labels (RDC 727/2020 modernised microbiological criteria; RDC 429/2020 + IN 41 for nutrition labelling, including the frontal warning labels).
• MAPA (Ministry of Agriculture) inspects animal-origin products; registration (SIF / SEDIPOA codes) applies to meat plants.
• Municipal licensing (alvará sanitário) plus a responsible technical manager (responsible técnico) is typically required at state level.

Exporting: the extra layer

1. Domestic compliance first — you cannot export what you cannot legally sell at home.
2. Destination rules — labelling language, additive limits (sulfite thresholds differ), permitted claims, and GMO statements vary.
3. Health certificates — animal-origin products (meat, dairy, fish) typically need an export health certificate signed by the national authority.
4. Phytosanitary certificates — dried plant products may need them for quarantine-relevant markets.
5. Import alerts and prior approval — the US requires prior notice of food imports; the EU has enhanced checks on certain dried commodities (e.g. aflatoxin testing on dried figs and nuts from flagged origins).
6. Incoterms and logistics — dried food ships unrefrigerated, but specify heat exposure limits; a container in summer can reach 50 °C and age product dramatically.

Certification schemes at a glance