US export readiness for Nordic food brands
While FDA holds a shipment, fees add up and the best-before date keeps running. If it is refused, it is shipped back or destroyed. We check every product in your range against US ingredient, colour and labelling rules, so you fix the problems at home, where it is cheap.
Technical screening against published US rules. Not legal advice.
When it goes wrong
Most exporters learn the US rules the expensive way. This is the path a held shipment takes, and the best-before date runs the whole time.
FDA flags the entry for a label review or samples it. The goods wait in a US warehouse, and storage fees start the day they arrive.
Your importer gets a Notice of FDA Action and about 10 business days to show the product complies, or explain how it will be fixed.
Specs, colour certificates and corrected labels have to come from suppliers back home, fast. Many importers bring in a US lawyer or consultant to answer FDA.
Label errors can sometimes be fixed in the US under FDA supervision, and the importer pays for that supervision. A non-permitted colour can't be fixed with a sticker.
Refused goods must be shipped back or destroyed under supervision within 90 days. FDA publishes the refusal.
The best-before bars are an illustration. How long each stage takes depends on the case.
Problems like these can put your products on an FDA import alert. Every later shipment is then held automatically, without inspection, until you convince FDA the problem is fixed. Thousands of firms are listed on the import alert for illegal or undeclared colours alone.
The cheap place to fix it
Every problem on this list costs a few hours at home. At the border it costs time you don't have and goods you may not get back.
What we find
Most issues fall into a few groups. Some are fixed on the label. Some mean the product can't go to the US with its current recipe.
Quinoline Yellow (E104), Azorubine (E122), Ponceau 4R (E124), Patent Blue V (E131), Green S (E142) and Brilliant Black (E151) are not on the US lists. Neither is vegetable carbon (E153), common in black licorice.
21 CFR Parts 73 and 74Copper chlorophyllin (E141) is only permitted in citrus-based dry drink mixes. Grape skin extract is limited to beverages. A colour can be legal in one US food and illegal in candy.
21 CFR 73.125 · 73.170E-numbers mean nothing on a US label. Certified colours are declared by name, such as Red 40 or Yellow 5, and carmine has to be named.
21 CFR 101.22(k)The US has nine major food allergens, sesame included. Wheat has to be called wheat, and tree nuts need their species named.
FALCPA · FASTER ActA per-100 g table has to become a US Nutrition Facts panel: per serving, with added sugars and US rounding rules.
21 CFR 101.9US labels state net quantity in ounces and grams, in the bottom 30% of the front panel.
21 CFR 101.105Method
Product list, photos of every label side, ingredient lists and spec sheets. You get an intake sheet to fill in.
Every ingredient and additive is checked against the US permitted lists and the use limits for your product type.
Where information is missing, you get ready-to-send supplier requests for specs, colour certificates and composition data.
Allergens, ingredient names, Nutrition Facts, net quantity, name and address, country of origin and pack format.
Clear, relabel or exclude for every product, with the reason and the rule behind it.
Example output
This is what the core of the report looks like. Products below are fictional.
| Art. no | Product | Verdict | Finding | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SL-104 | Salt licorice diamonds, 1 kg bulk | Exclude | Coloured with vegetable carbon (E153), which is not a permitted US food colour. | 21 CFR 73 |
| FR-221 | Sour fruit hearts, 80 g bag | Relabel | Colours listed as E-numbers; declare as Red 40 and Yellow 5. Net weight missing in ounces. | 101.22(k) · 101.105 |
| CH-310 | Milk chocolate buttons, 150 g | Relabel | Wheat only declared as “gluten”. It must be named as wheat. | FALCPA |
| GA-417 | Green apple gums, 100 g | Exclude | Copper chlorophyllin (E141) is not permitted in confectionery. | 21 CFR 73.125 |
| BL-230 | Blueberry drops, 90 g | Ask supplier | Anthocyanin source not stated. Grape skin extract would only be allowed in beverages. Request sent. | 21 CFR 73.170 |
| MA-052 | Marshmallow bananas, 200 g | Clear | No ingredient or colour issues found. US label text still to be drafted. | – |
The full report also covers label defects per product, a supplier request pack and a prioritised fix list.
Packages
You know the price before we start. Compare it with the value of one pallet you can't sell. Larger ranges are quoted separately.
Which products can go to the US at all.
15 000SEK excl. VAT
Up to 10 products
A full check before your first US order.
28 000SEK excl. VAT
Up to 25 products
For brands heading to US shelves.
40 000SEK excl. VAT
Up to 40 products
Scope
When a question needs a legal opinion, we say so in the report. You can take our findings to a US food lawyer and save them hours of groundwork.
Dates to know
Every facility that makes, packs or holds food for the US must renew its FDA registration in this window. Registrations that are not renewed are cancelled.
FDA has asked the food industry to phase out Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3. It is a request, not a ban. Expect US buyers to ask about it.
California bans it from 1 January. The federal FDA revocation applies from 15 January.
Texas SB 25 requires a warning on new labels with any of 44 listed ingredients. A federal court blocked enforcement for the trade groups that sued in February 2026. The appeal is pending.
Bans seven synthetic dyes in food sold in the state. A federal court blocked it in December 2025. The appeal is pending.
Status as of September 2026.
FAQ
No. We do a technical screening of your products against published US rules and report what we find. We are not a law firm and our reports are not legal opinions. If a finding needs a legal view, we say so.
Nobody can. FDA does not approve food labels or conventional food products before they are sold. It requires facility registration, prior notice for every shipment, and products and labels that follow US rules, and it can hold or refuse shipments at the border. We find the problems before that happens.
The manufacturing facility needs an FDA registration and a US agent. Every shipment needs prior notice, usually filed by the importer or customs broker. The US importer is responsible for the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP). The brand owner is responsible for the label. We show you where the gaps are so you and your importer can agree who fixes what.
We tell you whether it is a label problem or a recipe problem. Label problems are fixed with a US label or a compliant sticker. Recipe problems usually mean leaving the product out of your US range or asking the manufacturer for a US version. We don't reformulate products.
Talk to your importer and customs broker first, since they deal with FDA. We can help by pulling together supplier documents and mapping what needs to change on each product, fast. The response to FDA goes through your importer, often with a US lawyer.
Yes. We screen ranges for brand owners, manufacturers, private label owners and wholesalers selling Nordic products to US buyers.
A product list, photos of every side of each label, ingredient lists and spec sheets. If you don't have everything, the supplier request pack covers the rest.
We agree a delivery date before we start. It depends on the size of the range and how quickly your suppliers answer.
Book a screening
We reply with a fixed quote and a list of the documents we need.