Indiana Pet Treat Sales

To sell pet treats in Indiana, you must obtain a Commercial Feed License. It is $50 annually for the Indiana Commercial Feed License.

Be sure to review the Indiana Commercial Feed Laws & Regulations. 

The Indiana Home Based Vendor Laws DO NOT apply to animal food and treats. 

For small packages (10 lbs. and under), a Pet Food Listing Form must be sent with the application. It is $50 annually per product. If there are different ingredients, product name, brand name, or guaranteed analysis, it is a different product. Different size packages are not considered different products. However, if the labeling indicates the intention for a particular size of animal, then each size is a different product therefore would need its own product fee.  

If the products are not prepackaged, being sold in bulk or by piece or in packages over 10 lbs, it is $0.40 per ton per calendar quarter with a minimum fee of $5 per calendar quarter.  A tonnage report is mailed to you and must be completed and mailed to our office with a check each quarter by the due date, regardless of if anything was sold or not.  If the tonnage report is late, there is a $50 late fee. The products are not individually listed, but all labels must be submitted for review.  

If your company has products sold in both small and large packages and/or bulk, both small package fees and tonnage fees are required.  Tonnage fees are only for products sold in bulk/by piece and/or in large (over 10 lbs) packages.   

The individual packages or bulk/piece containers must have a product label.  Below is the information that needs to be on the labels:  

• Name of product – must be on front of label  
• Intended Species in words – must be on front of label  
• Intended Use - “Treat”, “Snack”, “Supplement” – must be on front of label  
  (If one of these words is not on the front, the label must contain the following statement elsewhere: "This product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only”
• Guaranteed Analysis:  
  - Ingredients listed in descending order of predominance by weight (most to least)  
  - Quantity Statement in US Standard and metric units – example: Net wt. X oz (X g) – must at the bottom 1/3 of the front of the label 
  - If selling unpackaged by bulk, net weight may be left off the label
• Name and address of company – company name in plain text next to city, state, and zip code

Required format for Guaranteed Analysis:  

Guaranteed Analysis  
Crude Protein (min)  %  
Crude Fat (min)  %  
Crude Fiber (max)  %  
Moisture (max)  %  

The best way to get the guaranteed analysis is by sending a sample to a lab. You can search for food analysis labs online to find options. It is always best to call around to get the best price.  Our office does not provide this service, our lab only tests products for regulatory purposes. Once you receive the lab analysis, you will need to use the “as received” analysis values and you will want to give the values some wiggle room on the guaranteed analysis. The minimum values must be set below the laboratory result. The maximum values must be set above the laboratory result. Please do not put 0% guarantees or 100% guarantees on the label! 

Product Name:

• For ingredients to be in the name of the product, they must together total 95% of the weight of the product, or a descriptor word must be used along with the ingredients in the product name:
  • If the ingredients together total 25% of the weight of the product, a descriptor word such as “formula” or “recipe” must also be used in the product name.
    [Example: Apple Recipe Dog Treats]
  • If the named ingredients make up 3% of the product, the word “with” needs to be used before the ingredients in the product name.
    [Example:  Dog Treats With Apple]
  • If the word “flavor” or “flavored” is used, there must only be something in the ingredients that could give the flavor of the ingredient(s) in the product name.
    [Example:  Apple Flavor Dog Treats]
• The descriptor word must be in the same size, style, and color font as the ingredients in the product name.  The ingredients in the product name must be listed in order of predominance by weight in the product, such as in the ingredient statement (most to least).
• If nutrients are specifically referenced on the label, they must be guaranteed in the guaranteed analysis.
• References to quality, nature, form, or other attributes of an ingredient are not allowed in the ingredient statement.  These claims are not allowed in the ingredient statement: “All Natural”, “100% Natural”, “Pure”, “Natural”, etc.  However, "organic" is allowed in the ingredient statement, if truthful.
• Animal foods/treats cannot indicate that the product is intended for diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.
• CBD and other hemp derived products are prohibited for use in animal food/treats in Indiana.
• The use of the term human grade and/or statements that imply the product is human grade, is only acceptable when it refers to the product as a whole–every ingredient and the resulting product must be stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner consistent and compliant with the 21 CFR 117 for human foods. In order to use this term, documentation needs to be provided to substantiate that the product meets these requirements.
• Pet food/treats cannot reference the USDA or make statements that imply “inspected” meat.  Pet food/treats also cannot reference the FDA or state made in an FDA facility or FDA approved. 

• All product labels must be reviewed by our office, so please have them reviewed before printing expenses occur.  Please send in a copy of all labels with the license application, products list (for products in packages 10 lbs or less), and a check.  We are unable to accept credit card payment at this time. 
• The labels may be e-mailed, but it must be indicated on the paperwork that the labels have been emailed. When e-mailing labels, please include them as attachments with file name as the product name.