Plant-Based Certification
At least 80% plant-based ingredients by weight, including water, with no animal-sourced ingredients and no animal-sourced processing aids.
Plant-Based Certification is one of our five audited seals, and it owns its own rule set. It is not a lighter version of Vegan. A certified plant-based label tells a retail buyer and a shopper that the American Vegetarian Association, an independent body, has measured the formula against the 80% by weight standard and confirmed it carries no animal-sourced ingredients or processing, so the claim on the package is verified rather than self-declared.
What qualifies as Plant-Based certification
"Plant-based" means derived from plants and free of animal-derived ingredients. To earn AVA Plant-Based Certification, a product must meet both a quantity threshold and a strict exclusion standard: Quantity: At least 80% of the product by weight, including water, must come from plant sources. Exclusions: The product must contain no animal-derived genes used in making the product or its ingredients, and no animal-sourced ingredients of any kind, including: • Meat, fowl, fish, or insects • Leather, wool, or silk • Milk, eggs, honey, or other bee products The remaining up to 20% by weight may include non-plant, non-animal materials such as minerals, microorganisms, enzymes, fungi, algae, flavors, colorings, gums, acids, and water. The 80% threshold is measured, not estimated. We review the full formula against the rule before any seal is issued, which is why a certified plant-based claim carries more weight on the shelf than the words "plant based" printed by a brand about its own product.
Certified Plant-Based label requirements
The AVA Certified Plant-Based logo is the round seal a brand displays on packaging, websites, and marketing once a product passes review. It tells a retail buyer and a shopper that an independent body has verified the formula against the 80% by weight, including water standard, rather than the brand simply writing "plant based" on the front of pack. The seal may only be used on products we have approved, and only for as long as the certification is current. We issue the artwork together with your Certificate after review, so the label cannot carry the mark before approval. There is no automatic approval: every product is reviewed against the standard first. Certifications are reviewed annually and renewable, provided there is no formula or ingredient change. If you reformulate and the plant share or an ingredient changes, the product is reviewed again before the label can keep the seal. That is what keeps a certified plant-based label defensible when a retailer or a category buyer asks what the claim is based on.
Plant-Based is a separate standard, not a lighter Vegan
Plant-Based and Vegan are evaluated against different criteria, and one is not a softer grade of the other. AVA Vegan Certification is an absolute rule: zero animal-sourced ingredients, zero animal-derived genes, zero animal-sourced processing, with no threshold involved. Plant-Based is built around a measured 80% by weight, including water plant share, plus the same exclusion of animal-sourced ingredients and processing across the whole formula. A product can be a strong fit for Plant-Based without being a candidate for Vegan, and the reverse is also true. Choosing the seal that matches your formula is the point of the review. Pick the standard your product actually meets, and the label claim stays honest.
Who needs a plant-based claim and who needs a vegan claim
The right seal follows the formula, not the marketing instinct. Reach for a plant-based claim when the product is built primarily from plants and you want the front of pack to say that precisely: at least 80% by weight, including water, with no animal-sourced ingredients or processing. That covers a wide shelf, from an oat drink and a bean-based pasta to a mushroom blend or a chickpea snack, where the plant content is the whole story and a measured threshold is the honest way to state it. Reach for a vegan claim instead when the product carries zero animal-sourced ingredients, zero animal-derived genes, and zero animal-sourced processing, with no threshold in play. Some products qualify for both standards; many qualify for one and not the other. A formula can clear the 80% plant share and still rely on an animal-sourced processing aid that keeps it off the Vegan standard, and a strict vegan formula can sit below a plant-forward framing it never claimed. Choosing the seal your product actually meets is the point of the review, because the claim a category buyer can defend is the one that matches the formula on file.
Why brands choose Plant-Based
Plant-Based is built for brands whose products are formulated primarily from plants and who want a seal that names that fact precisely on the shelf. For retail and e-commerce listings, a third-party certified plant-based label answers the buyer's first question, what is the claim based on, before it is asked. The standard has been audited the same way since AVA began certifying products in 1996, and review takes 5 to 7 business days after we receive a complete submission.
Certified plant-based food and retailer compliance
Retailers and category buyers increasingly ask brands to substantiate the words on the front of pack before a product earns shelf space or an on-site badge. "Plant based" printed by a brand about its own product is a self-declared claim. A certified plant-based food carries a seal that an independent body, the American Vegetarian Association, issued only after measuring the formula against the 80% by weight, including water standard and confirming no animal-sourced ingredients or processing. That distinction is what a compliance review wants to see. When a buyer asks what the claim is based on, a certified plant-based label gives one answer: a reviewed standard with a Certificate behind it, not a word the brand chose. The seal may only be used on products we have approved, and certifications are reviewed annually and renewable, provided there is no formula or ingredient change. If you reformulate and the plant share or an ingredient changes, the product is reviewed again before the label can keep the seal, so the claim stays current with the formula the retailer is relying on.
Apply for AVA Plant-Based Certification
Ready to certify your product? Complete the AVA application and a reviewer will respond with a quote, documentation requirements, and the next steps. Plant-Based Certification reviews take 5 to 7 business days from the moment we receive your payment, ingredient list, label, and product sample. Approved products receive a Certificate and the AVA Certification Logo for packaging, marketing, and shelf use. Certifications are valid for one year with a simple renewal path. Visit the Get Certified page to begin, or compare alternatives on the Certifications hub.
Frequently asked questions
What qualifies as plant-based certification?
For AVA Certified Plant-Based, at least 80% of the product by weight, including water, must be derived from plants. The entire formula must be free of animal-derived genes, animal-sourced ingredients (meat, fowl, fish, insects, leather, wool, silk, milk, eggs, honey, bee products), and animal-sourced processing (bone-char-filtered sugar, animal enzymes, flavors, or colorings, gelatin clarification). The remaining up to 20% by weight may include non-animal, non-plant sources such as minerals, microorganisms, enzymes, fungi, algae, flavors, coloring, gums, acids, and water.
What are the requirements for a certified plant-based label?
A certified plant-based label requires that the product first pass AVA review against the 80% by weight, including water standard with no animal-sourced ingredients or processing. We issue the AVA Certified Plant-Based logo and your Certificate after approval. The seal may only be used while the certification is current, and there is no automatic approval. Certifications are reviewed annually and renewable as long as the formula and ingredients do not change.
Plant-Based vs Vegan certification: which is right for a retail product?
It depends on the formula, not on which seal sounds stronger. Plant-Based is a separate audited standard, not a lighter version of Vegan. Choose AVA Plant-Based when your product is at least 80% plant by weight, including water, and free of animal-sourced ingredients and processing but not necessarily formulated to the absolute Vegan rule. Choose AVA Vegan when the product carries zero animal-sourced ingredients, zero animal-derived genes, and zero animal-sourced processing. For a retail listing, the right seal is the one your product actually meets, because that is the claim a category buyer can defend.
What makes a food certified plant-based?
A certified plant-based food has passed AVA review against the 80% by weight, including water standard, with no animal-sourced ingredients and no animal-sourced processing anywhere in the formula. The remaining up to 20% by weight may include non-animal, non-plant materials such as minerals, microorganisms, enzymes, fungi, algae, flavors, colorings, gums, acids, and water. The threshold is measured against the full formula, not estimated, and we issue the AVA Certified Plant-Based logo and your Certificate only after approval. There is no automatic approval, and certifications are reviewed annually and renewable as long as the formula and ingredients do not change.
Do retailers accept a self-declared plant-based claim?
Many retailers and category buyers now ask brands to substantiate the claim before a product earns shelf space or an on-site badge, and a word printed by the brand about its own product is self-declared. A certified plant-based label gives a compliance review a reviewed standard with a Certificate behind it: an independent body measured the formula against the 80% by weight, including water standard and confirmed no animal-sourced ingredients or processing. If you reformulate, the product is reviewed again before the label can keep the seal, so the claim stays current with the formula on file.