Food Canning Establishment (FCE-SID)

Federal Regulations require commercial processors of shelf stable acidified foods and low-acid canned foods in a hermetically sealed container to be sold in the United States to register each establishment and file scheduled processes with the Food and Drug Administration for each product, product style, container size and type and processing method (21 CFR 108). This website contains instructions for establishment registration and process filing along with other information useful to manufacturers of these types of products.

A low-acid canned food (LACF) is any food (other than alcoholic beverages) with a finished equilibrium pH greater than 4.6 and a water activity greater than 0.85, excluding tomatoes and tomato products having a finished equilibrium pH less than 4.7.

An acidified food (AF) is a low-acid food to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added and which has a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below and a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85. Facilities that manufacture, process, or package foods intended for consumption in the United States are required to register in the FDA Food Facility Registration (FFR) system. Companies that produce certain Acidified and Low-Acid Canned Food (LACF) packaged in hermetically sealed containers are also required to obtain a Food Canning Establishment (FCE) registration. A facility’s FCE registration must be linked to its FFR, and the data in the two registrations must match

Low Acid Canned Food (LACF) and acidified food facilities must submit unique filings for each process used during production. Each of these “Process Filings” is assigned a unique Submission Identifier (SID) number.

To have “FDA Registration Assistance” assist you in getting a Low-Acid Canned Food (LACF) or a Food Canning Establishment Registration (FCE) please CONTACT US.