Acidified Foods fall under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Part 114

21 CFR 114 requires that processors of Acidified Foods: 

1)  Shall be under the operating supervision of a person who has attended a school approved by the Commissioner for giving instruction in food handling techniques, food protection, principles, personal hygiene and plant sanitation practices, pH controls and critical factors in acidification, and who has been identified by that school as having satisfactorily completed the prescribed course of instruction.  This course is also known as the Better Process Control School.  

2)  Acidified foods require an equilibrium pH of less than 4.6

3) Acidified foods shall be thermally processed to an extent to destroy vegetative cells of microorganisms of public health significance and those of non-health significance capable of reproducing in the food.

4)  If the pH of the finished product is greater than 4.0, a pH meter must be used to determine the equilibrium pH.  If the pH is less than 4.0, other suitable methods may be used (pH test strips).  

5)  Testing of the container shall occur with enough frequency to ensure the container suitably protects the food from leakage or contamination.

6)  Each container shall be marked with an identifying code visible to the naked eye.  The required identification shall specify in code the establishment where the product was packed, the product contained, and the year, day and period in which it was packed.

7)  Your scheduled process shall be established by a person who has expert knowledge acquired through appropriate training and experience in the acidification and processing of acidified foods.

8)  Processing of your product must adhere to your scheduled process.

Additional requirements include a recall plan, maintaining records of materials, processing conditions, pH measurements and other critical factors intended to ensure the safety of the product.  For a complete requirements, see 21 CFR 114.

Low Acid Foods fall under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Part 113

The majority of value added processor will not have the resources necessary to ensure thermal processing of low acid foods.  If you have a question about your product and whether or not it would fall under low acid food regulations, send an email to fstinfo@vt.edu