Business Name & Address
This article applies to all products sold in the United States.
By law, every packaged consumer commodity must have a label which includes the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor.1
A consumer commodity is:
any type of item that is normally sold through retail channels to individuals for consumption or use by individuals in the household and which is normally used up in the course of such use. It includes any food, drug, device, or cosmetic as well as items such as soap, paper towels, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and other items that are used in or around the home and are used up.2
Business Name
The business name is the legal name of the business. For a single person (sole proprietor) it is the person’s name; for a partnership, LLC, or corporation it is the name under which the business paperwork was filed with the state. It is typically the name under which the business has a bank account and files taxes.
Except in the case of corporations, the legal name used on the label may be a trade name where “doing business as” or “fictitious name” documentation has been correctly filed with the appropriate governmental agency.3
Examples:
- Jane Doe is doing business as herself and has not filed anything with the state or county. The business name on the label would be “Jane Doe.”
- Jane Doe is doing business as herself and has registered a trade name “Jane’s Soap Store” by filing fictitious name statement or "doing business as" (DBA) with the her county or state. The business name on the label would be “Jane’s Soap Store.”
- Jane Doe files the appropriate paperwork with her state to create an LLC called “Jane Doe, LLC.” The business name on the label would be “Jane Doe, LLC.”
- Jane Doe files the appropriate paperwork with her state to create an LLC called “Jane Doe, LLC.” Jane Doe, LLC registers the trade name “Jane’s Soap Store” by filing a fictitious name statement or "doing business as" (DBA) with her county or state. The business name on the label would still be "Jane Doe, LLC."
- Jane Doe creates a partnership or LLC with Sally and Mary called “Jane and Friends” by filing the appropriate paperwork with her state. The business name on the label would be “Jane and Friends”
- Jane Doe creates a partnership with Sally and Mary called “Jane and Friends” by filing the appropriate paperwork with her state. Jane and Friends the registers trade names of “Jane’s Soap Store” and “Mary’s Quilt Shop” by filing fictitious name statements or "doing business as" (DBA) with her county or state. The business name on the soap label would be “Jane’s Soap Store.”
- Jane Doe files the appropriate paperwork with her state to create a corporation (not an LLC) called “Jane Doe, Inc.” The business name of the label would be “Jane Doe, Inc.” If Jane Doe, Inc. has several divisions, the applicable division may be stated before or after the corporate name (e.g. “Cosmetic Division - Jane Doe, Inc.” or “Jane Doe, Inc. – Soap Division”).
Where the business name and address is not that of the actual manufacturer, the name and address must be prefaced with a phrase that clearly reveals the connection between the two (such as “Manufacturer for ___” or “Distributed by ___”).4
Business Address
The business address is the actual physical location (street address, city, state and zip code) of the manufacturer, packer or distributor identified on the label.
If the product is manufactured, packed or distributed at a place other than the principal place of business, the label may state the principal place of business. For example, if the business offices are located in an office building, but the manufacturing is done in a warehouse at a different location.
The principal place of business is:
“the place where a corporation’s officers direct, control, and coordinate the corporation’s activities … in practice it should normally be the place where the corporation maintains its headquarters—provided that the headquarters is the actual center of direction, control, and coordination, i.e., the “nerve center,” and not simply an office where the corporation holds its board meetings (for example, attended by directors and officers who have traveled there for the occasion).”5
In no case would a Post Office Box or Mail Drop be acceptable as the business address.
Omitting the Street Address
The street address may be omitted under certain conditions. The current regulations to omit the street address are:
- For COSMETICS, the street address may be omitted if it is listed under the business name in a current city or telephone directory6 published in print or online.7 (Regulations from the FDA)
- For SOAP that is exempt from the definition of a cosmetic, the street address may be omitted from the label if the address is listed (under the business name) in a readily accessible, widely published, and publicly available resource, including a printed directory, electronic database, or Web site.8 (Regulations from the FTC)
The address must always include the city, state and zip code.
Regarding the current regulations:
The FDA and the FTC have a Memorandum of Understanding9 which states that they will keep their regulations implementing the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act “as uniform as possible.” From the time the regulations were initially issued in 1968, the section regarding omitting the street address was the same for both (requiring publication in a city or phone directory).
In 2015, the FTC updated their regulations to modernize the place of business listing requirement to provide more flexibility and encompass new technologies.10 The new regulations allow that the street address could be omitted if it was published in a “readily accessible, widely published, and publicly available resource” which includes an online resource or website.
In 2019, the HSCG filed a Citizen’s Petition11 requesting the the FDA update their regulations regarding the requirement to omit the street address to be the same as the FTC regulations. They also requested that during the rulemaking process no action be taken against cosmetic manufacturers who omitted the street address where it was listed in a readily accessible, widely published and publicly available resource where such resource wasn’t strictly a “city or telephone directory.”
While it is likely that the FDA will update the regulations, as of February 2023, the FDA had not not started the rulemaking process to do so.
Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022
In December, 2022, the Modernization of Cosmetic Regulation Act of 202212 was passed as part of the Omnibus Spending Bill.
Included in the Act was a section on Adverse Events, which requires specific contact information on the label of a cosmetic product:
“The responsible person shall receive reports of adverse events through the domestic address, domestic telephone number, or electronic contact information included on the label …”
In other words, a consumer must be able to reach the cosmetic manufacturer by one of the methods listed to report an adverse event.
If the street address, city, state and zip code (the domestic address) are on the label then the requirement appears to be met. If the street address is omitted from the label then a domestic telephone number or electronic contact information would need to be included on the label.
While regulations have not yet been written to implement this portion of the Act, it does not appear to change the requirements for the street address to be available to the consumer – either on the label or listed somewhere under the business name where the consumer can find it.
1 15 USC 1453(a)(1) – Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
2 15 USC 1459(a) – Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. The definition of “Consumer Commodity” in the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act specifically exempts meat & poultry products, tobacco products, insecticides, alcoholic beverages, certain agricultural seeds and some drugs under certain circumstances (samples, prescriptions, veterinary prescriptions, etc.).
3 State regulations differ on filing “doing business as” or “fictitious name” statements. Some require filing with the state, some require filing with the county and some base where the filing is done based on the business form (sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, partnership, etc.)
4 21 CFR 701.12(c) and 16 CFR 500.5(a)
5 559 US 77 (2010) - US Supreme Court Opinion, Hertz Corp V. Friend
6 21 CFR 701.12
7 FDA Response to Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild, Inc. Citizen Petition November 14, 2012
8 16 CFR 500.5(c)
9 Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, 1971.
10 80 FR 71686
11 FDA-2019-P-2122
12 Modernization of Cosmetic Regulation Act of 2022 USC 364e(a)
