By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
In August 2025, the Nationwide Sanitation Basis (NSF) debuted its vegan label, one of many lots of of third-party certifications provided by them in a number of various industries since 1944.
The NSF vegan label certifies many varieties of merchandise and procedures as assembly all of NSF’s necessities for a vegan designation. The merchandise eligible for NSF’s vegan certification are:
- Meals
- Dietary dietary supplements
- Cosmetics
- Private care merchandise
- Family merchandise
In November 2025, NSF introduced that Michele’s Granola was the primary firm to obtain NSF’s vegan certification for its granola and muesli merchandise.
In accordance with NSF’s web site, their vegan label applies to:
- Components
- Processing aids
- Meals contact packaging
NSF additionally states on their web site that their label ensures provide chain verification and that customary working procedures are in place for correct storage and dealing with of vegan elements. The certification additionally requires:
- Cleansing and sanitation to forestall contamination or commingling with non-vegan substances
- Worker coaching
- Traceability and recall
- Criticism dealing with
- Compliance monitoring with technical evaluations
Q&A with NSF
The VRG requested Carey Allen, Director of Meals Claims at NSF, a number of questions in regards to the NSF label. Right here is our Q&A electronic mail change from January 2026:
Q: What’s your working definition of the time period “vegan” because it applies to meals and drinks?
A: NSF P543: Vegan and Cruelty-Free Merchandise (NSF P543) contains particular necessities for vegan merchandise. Components, processing aids and meals contact packaging materials utilized in or on merchandise labeled as “vegan” should not be derived from animals nor include animal elements at any quantity. Merchandise might not include animal-derived GMOs and should not be topic to animal testing. Eligible merchandise below NSF P543 embody meals, dietary dietary supplements, cosmetics, private care merchandise, and family merchandise.
Q: Do you base vegan certification solely on an elements record equipped by a meals firm? If extra is concerned, please elaborate.
A: Merchandise licensed by NSF as vegan endure a strict technical evaluate. The certification course of entails key documentation, reviewing not simply the product elements, processing aids, and packaging, but in addition product labels, the manufacturing services and customary working procedures.
Q: For vegan certification, do you depend on an organization’s statements from their ingredient suppliers about processing aids? If extra is concerned, please clarify.
A: NSF evaluations all elements and processing aids as a part of the certification course of. We evaluate the supply of every ingredient to make sure it complies with the usual, evaluate manufacturing equipped documentation reminiscent of specification sheets and/or certificates of research, and every ingredient and processing support producer completes a compliance declaration or gives a present third-party vegan certificates. This evaluate additionally applies to contact packaging producers.
Q: Would you certify meals and drinks manufactured utilizing animal genes by way of precision fermentation as their sole animal enter as “vegan”?
A: No.
Q: Would you certify meals grown in labs utilizing animal cells as “vegan”?
A: No.
Q: How is your vegan certification totally different from different vegan certifications?
A: NSF vegan certification contains the evaluation and management of elements and processing aids from manufacturing, procurement and dealing with to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the completed product.
NSF vegan certification not solely entails an intensive evaluate of every ingredient and processing support but in addition features a evaluate of the manufacturing facility. Manufacturing services are required to have insurance policies and procedures in place to make sure that compliance is maintained with NSF’s Vegan Certification Protocol.
A typical working process (SOP) on ingredient and processing support approval should deal with vegan integrity of uncooked supplies. A SOP for the dealing with and storage of elements, processing aids, and merchandise should embody measures to eradicate cross-contamination and commingling of vegan and non-vegan elements and processing aids; and clear identification and segregation of elements, processing aids, and completed merchandise which might be and usually are not vegan.
SOPs for cleansing and sanitation should embody a danger evaluation to determine potential contamination dangers, a cleansing schedule, and a technique for evaluating the efficacy of cleansing procedures, if the ability just isn’t devoted vegan. All workers on the manufacturing facility are required to obtain vegan coaching. Different SOPs reviewed guarantee there are procedures in place for traceability and recall, in addition to grievance dealing with. Any product that has been topic to animal testing at any time, together with however not restricted to throughout analysis and growth, is prohibited.
To keep up NSF’s vegan certification, operations which have merchandise licensed as vegan with NSF should endure an annual evaluate.
Q: You state in your certification protocol that proof of vegan integrity might be a present third-party vegan certificates. Which third-party certifications would you think about professional and deal with as proof of vegan integrity?
A: This record might evolve by time, in order certificates are submitted, the certification program is evaluated to find out compliance with our vegan program.
Q: Can you determine any particular vegan certifications that you’d settle for when figuring out the “vegan integrity” of a product you might have been requested to certify? In case you settle for one other certification as proof of vegan integrity, do you cease there and declare the product as NSF-certified, too, or do you conduct your individual evaluate as nicely earlier than making your declaration? In case you conduct your individual evaluate, then how is the willpower of vegan integrity as declared by one other certifier related?
A: The record of acceptable vegan certificates is more likely to change over time, and vegan certificates are evaluated as they’re submitted as proof of compliance. Many merchandise are multi-ingredient. NSF requires full ingredient and processing support info for all merchandise searching for vegan certification. Whereas an ingredient or processing support could also be accredited as a result of it’s licensed vegan, we’d nonetheless require info to confirm the compliance of all different elements and processing aids utilized in or on the ultimate product searching for certification.
Q: Do you do onsite visits as a part of the certification course of, reviewing work logs whereas there and cross-referencing them with paperwork you had been beforehand despatched by the corporate? In that case, are the visits introduced or unannounced?
A: No, we don’t conduct onsite audits.
The contents of this weblog posting, our web site and our different publications, together with Vegan Journal, usually are not supposed to offer private medical recommendation. Medical recommendation needs to be obtained from a professional well being skilled. We regularly rely upon product and ingredient info from firm statements. It’s unattainable to be 100% positive a few assertion, data can change, individuals have totally different views, and errors could be made. Please use your greatest judgment about whether or not a product is appropriate for you. To make certain, do additional analysis or affirmation by yourself.
For extra ingredient info, see https://www.vrg.org/elements/index.php
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