FDA general food categories (defined under 21CFR 170.3)

1. Baked goods and baking mixes, including all ready-to-eat and ready-to-bake products, flours, and mixes requiring preparation before serving.
2. Beverages, alcoholic, including malt beverages, wines, distilled liquors, and cocktail mix.
3. Beverages and beverage bases, nonalcoholic, including only special or spiced teas, soft drinks, coffee substitutes, and fruit and vegetable flavored gelatin drinks.
4. Breakfast cereals, including ready-to-eat and instant and regular hot cereals.
5. Cheeses, including curd and whey cheeses, cream, natural, grating, processed, spread, dip, and miscellaneous cheeses.
6. Chewing gum, including all forms.
7. Coffee and tea, including regular, decaffeinated, and instant types.
8. Condiments and relishes, including plain seasoning sauces and spreads, olives, pickles, and relishes, but not spices or herbs.
9. Confections and frostings, including candy and flavored frostings, marshmallows, baking chocolate, and brown, lump, rock, maple, powdered, and raw sugars.
10. Dairy product analogs, including nondairy milk, frozen or liquid creamers, coffee whiteners, toppings, and other nondairy products.
11. Egg products, including liquid, frozen, or dried eggs, and egg dishes made therefrom, i.e., egg roll, egg foo young, egg salad, and frozen multicourse egg meals, but not fresh eggs.
12. Fats and oils, including margarine, dressings for salads, butter, salad oils, shortenings and cooking oils.
13. Fish products, including all prepared main dishes, salads, appetizers, frozen multicourse meals, and spreads containing fish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals, but not fresh fish.
14. Fresh eggs, including cooked eggs and egg dishes made only from fresh shell eggs.
15. Fresh fish, including only fresh and frozen fish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals.
16. Fresh fruits and fruit juices, including only raw fruits, citrus, melons, and berries, and home-prepared ``ades'' and punches made therefrom.
17. Fresh meats, including only fresh or home-frozen beef or veal, pork, lamb or mutton and home-prepared fresh meat-containing dishes, salads, appetizers, or sandwich spreads made therefrom.
18. Fresh poultry, including only fresh or home-frozen poultry and game birds and home-prepared fresh poultry-containing dishes, salads, appetizers, or sandwich spreads made therefrom.
19. Fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and potatoes, including only fresh and home-prepared vegetables.
20. Frozen dairy desserts and mixes, including ice cream, ice milks, sherbets, and other frozen dairy desserts and specialties.
21. Fruit and water ices, including all frozen fruit and water ices.
22. Gelatins, puddings, and fillings, including flavored gelatin desserts, puddings, custards, parfaits, pie fillings, and gelatin base salads.
23. Grain products and pastas, including macaroni and noodle products, rice dishes, and frozen multicourse meals, without meat or vegetables.
24. Gravies and sauces, including all meat sauces and gravies, and tomato, milk, buttery, and specialty sauces.
25. Hard candy and cough drops, including all hard type candies.
26. Herbs, seeds, spices, seasonings, blends, extracts, and flavorings, including all natural and artificial spices, blends, and flavors.
27. Jams and jellies, home-prepared, including only home-prepared jams, jellies, fruit butters, preserves, and sweet spreads.
28. Jams and jellies, commercial, including only commercially processed jams, jellies, fruit butters, preserves, and sweet spreads.
29. Meat products, including all meats and meat containing dishes, salads, appetizers, frozen multicourse meat meals, and sandwich ingredients prepared by commercial processing or using commercially processed meats with home preparation.
30. Milk, whole and skim, including only whole, lowfat, and skim fluid milks.
31. Milk products, including flavored milks and milk drinks, dry milks, toppings, snack dips, spreads, weight control milk beverages, and other milk origin products.
32. Nuts and nut products, including whole or shelled tree nuts, peanuts, coconut, and nut and peanut spreads.
33. Plant protein products, including the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council ``reconstituted vegetable protein'' category, and meat, poultry, and fish substitutes, analogs, and extender products made from plant proteins.
34. Poultry products, including all poultry and poultry-containing dishes, salads, appetizers, frozen multicourse poultry meals, and sandwich ingredients prepared by commercial processing or using commercially processed poultry with home preparation.
35. Processed fruits and fruit juices, including all commercially processed fruits, citrus, berries, and mixtures; salads, juices and juice punches, concentrates, dilutions, ``ades'', and drink substitutes made therefrom.
36. Processed vegetables and vegetable juices, including all commercially processed vegetables, vegetable dishes, frozen multicourse vegetable meals, and vegetable juices and blends.
37. Snack foods, including chips, pretzels, and other novelty snacks.
38. Soft candy, including candy bars, chocolates, fudge, mints, and other chewy or nougat candies.
39. Soups, home-prepared, including meat, fish, poultry, vegetable, and combination home-prepared soups.
40. Soups and soup mixes, including commercially prepared meat, fish, poultry, vegetable, and combination soups and soup mixes.
41. Sugar, white, granulated, including only white granulated sugar.
42. Sugar substitutes, including granulated, liquid, and tablet sugar substitutes.
43. Sweet sauces, toppings, and syrups, including chocolate, berry, fruit, corn syrup, and maple sweet sauces and toppings.