On July 17, 2025, FDA announced several rulemakings aimed at modernizing its standards of identity (SOIs) for food products – regulations that define what a food must contain and how it must be made to lawfully bear a specific name. FDA’s actions target 52 SOIs in all. More specifically, FDA is revoking 11 SOIs for canned fruits and vegetables via a direct-to-final rule and has proposed to eliminate 18 dairy SOIs and 23 others covering various bakery products, macaroni and noodle products, canned fruit juices, fish and shellfish, and food dressings and flavorings. These actions align with the current administration’s broader federal deregulatory initiative, consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order 14192: “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.”
FDA’s Past Attempts to Modernize Food SOIs
For decades, FDA has sought to modernize its food SOIs. Indeed, FDA recognized the need to modernize its SOIs dating back to 1995. In 2005, FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a proposed rule in an effort to initiate the process of modernizing SOIs. Then, in 2018, as part of the agency’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy, FDA sought to restart its efforts to modernize its aging SOIs. At a public meeting the following year, stakeholders expressed broad support for FDA’s and USDA’s efforts to finalize the 2005 proposed rule and called for a reopening of the comment period for the 2005 proposed rule to collect information on manufacturing, food technology, market trends, and nutrition science. FDA and USDA ultimately reopened the comment period in 2020. Based on the comments received, the agencies withdrew the 2005 proposed rule to “reconsider how best to approach general principles and food standards modernization to ensure any future revised general principles are consistent with the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.” It is against this backdrop that FDA’s current actions to revamp its aging SOIs arises.
FDA’s Newest Actions Explained
In the following table, we highlight FDA’s series of rulemakings, announced on July 17, 2025, and their impact on the 52 targeted SOIs:
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FDA Rulemaking Action
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Description
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Examples of SOIs Impacted
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Direct final rule: Revocation of Food Standards for 11 Products Not Currently Sold.
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FDA is immediately revoking 11 SOIs for canned fruits and vegetables. This includes 7 SOIs for saccharin-sweetened fruits that are no longer sold in U.S. grocery stores.
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- Artificially sweetened canned apricot (21 CFR 145.116)
- Canned preserved figs (21 CFR 145.134)
- Artificially sweetened canned fruit cocktail (21 CFR 145.136)
- Canned field corn (21 CFR 155.131)
- Canned dry peas (21 CFR 155.172)
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Companion proposed rule: Revocation of Food Standards for 11 Products Not Currently Sold
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FDA published this companion rule to the direct final rule in the event the direct final rule is withdrawn and the agency must instead publish a proposed rule to put these changes in place.
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Proposed rule: Proposal to Revoke 18 Standards of Identity for Dairy Products
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FDA proposes to revoke 18 dairy product SOIs. These SOIs include certain milk and cream products, cheeses and related cheese products, and frozen desserts.
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- Acidified milk (21 CFR 131.111)
- Low-sodium cheddar cheese (21 CFR 133.116)
- Cream cheese with other foods (21 CFR 133.134)
- Goat’s milk ice cream (21 CFR 135.115)
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Proposed rule: Proposal to Revoke 23 Standards of Identity for Foods
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FDA proposes to revoke another 23 SOIs for other food products. These SOIs cover various bakery products, macaroni and noodle products, canned fruit juices, fish and shellfish, and food dressings and flavorings.
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- Milk bread, rolls, and buns (21 CFR 136.130)
- Wheat and soy macaroni products (21 CFR 139.140)
- Frozen orange juice (21 CFR 146.137)
- Olympia oysters (21 CFR 161.136)
- Vanilla-vanillin extract (21 CFR 169.180)
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Implications for Industry + Next Steps
In announcing its actions to revoke 52 targeted SOIs, FDA explains that the targeted SOIs are obsolete or otherwise unnecessary because: (1) there is no robust U.S. market for the targeted products or (2) the standardized foods are sufficiently covered by another current FDA regulation. To the extent companies wish to continue marketing any of the targeted foods, we note that FDA’s immediate or planned revocation of the targeted SOIs does not impede a company from continuing to lawfully market these foods, provided of course that the foods are adequately covered by another SOI or otherwise comply with FDA’s labeling requirements for non-standardized food.
Submitting comments. Interested stakeholders may submit comments on FDA’s direct final rule (which immediately revokes certain canned fruit and vegetable SOIs) by August 18, 2025. Comments on FDA’s other proposed SOI revocations enumerated above are due to FDA by September 15, 2025.
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