Plant-Based FAQ
Below are Frequently Asked Questions specific to plant-based products for our New Hope Network Standards program and the Natural Products Expo/Beacon Discovery Application Review Process.
For more details about Expo Exhibitor Registration, please consult the following sites:
Plant-Based Considerations
| Plant-Based | Vegan |
|---|---|
|
Ingredients may be processed
with animal by-products |
Ingredients may not be processed with animal by-products (e.g., sweeteners may not be filtered with bone char) |
|
No restrictions on animal testing |
May not be tested on animals |
|
No restrictions on processing in
a facility that also processes
animal products |
Should not be processed in facility that also processes animal products |
|
Must have ingredients derived
mostly from plants and may also
include fungi, algae and certain
non-plant ingredients such as
salt and water |
Ingredients may come from plant and non-plant sources, or be synthetically derived so long as there is no animal testing, processing with animal by-products, and should not be manufactured in a facility that also processes animal |
|
Should not include synthetically
derived ingredients |
No, if a product contains dairy-based cheese, it may not make a plant-based claim. You may, however, state what is plant-based in the product. For example, “made with plant-based bacon”.
No. Honey is produced by bees and therefore it is not plant derived. If you would like to use descriptive words about a product containing small amounts of animal-derived ingredients, we suggest using terms like “plant-focused” or “plant-forward” or declaring a percentage of the product that is derived from plants.
We will not dispute a product labeled as plant-based if the product is mostly mushroom and other non-animal-derived ingredients as they fit within our guidelines. We encourage companies to look into certifying their products to avoid risks that could arise with such claims.
Yes. As long as the certificate can be verified as current with your brand’s name.
No, we do not allow products that contain bio-similar or nature-identical animal ingredients to be labeled as plant-based.
This will depend upon what type of non-plant ingredients are in the product. Under our guidelines, if the ingredients are synthetically derived, the product should not claim to be plant-based. If the ingredients are salt, water and/or other non-synthetically derived ingredients, we would not dispute a plant-based claim.
A statement of source means what an ingredient is derived from and/or how the ingredient is produced. For example, ascorbic acid can be extracted from a variety of food sources such as oranges (ex. Ascorbic acid (acerola)) or can be synthetic through commercial production (ex. Ascorbic acid (fermentation)).
If the claim is truthful and not misleading, quantifying the amount of plant-based ingredients is acceptable if you have documentation to substantiate such claim.
