At a glance
IFSAC created a scheme that classifies foods into 17 categories that closely align with the U.S. food regulatory agencies' classification needs.
How IFSAC categorizes foods
The IFSAC food categorization scheme has five levels to which foods can be assigned, depending upon the type of food.
First, foods are assigned to one of four food groups: aquatic animals, land animals, plants, and other.
Food groups then become more specific. For example, dairy, eggs, meat and poultry, and game are in the land animal food group.
Then, the category meat and poultry is divided into more specific categories of meat (beef, pork, other meat) and poultry (chicken, turkey, other poultry).
Finally, foods are differentiated by food processing, such as pasteurized and unpasteurized fluid dairy products, and pasteurized and unpasteurized solid and semi-solid dairy products.
IFSAC Food Categories with Examples
| IFSAC Annual Report Category | Examples (not exhaustive) |
|---|---|
| Land Animals | |
| Beef | ground beef, steaks, roasts |
| Pork | bacon, hams, pork deli meat |
| Chicken | whole chicken, chicken deli meats |
| Turkey | whole turkey, turkey hot dogs |
Other Meat/Other Poultry
|
|
| Game | wild boar, venison |
| Dairy | fluid milk, hard and soft cheese |
| Eggs | whole shell eggs, egg products |
| Aquatic Animals | |
| Fish | catfish, grouper, tuna |
Other Seafood
|
|
| Plants | |
| Grains-Beans | rice, wheat, pinto beans |
| Oils-Sugars | olive oil, canola oil, sugars, honey |
| Fruits | melons, apples, cherries, berries, mangoes, avocados |
| Seeded Vegetables | cucumbers, tomatoes, legumes, sweet corn |
| Sprouts | alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts |
| Vegetable Row Crops | leafy greens (lettuce, spinach), celeries, broccoli |
Other Produce
|
|
![[thumbnail] (hidden)](/ifsac/media/images/IFSAC_Food_Categories_450px.jpg)
![[thumbnail] (hidden)](/ifsac/media/images/2026/02/IFSAC-Food-Categorization-Scheme.png)
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- Richardson LC, Bazaco MC, Parker CC, Dewey-Mattia D, Golden N, Jones K, Klontz K, Travis C, Zablotsky Kufel J, Cole D. An updated scheme for categorizing foods implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks: a tri-agency collaboration. Foodborne Pathog Dis. 2017 Sep 19, ahead of print. Read the abstract.
- Painter JA, Ayers T, Woodruff R, Blanton E, Perez N, Hoekstra R, Griffin PM, Braden C. Recipes for foodborne outbreaks: a scheme for categorizing and grouping implicated foods. Foodborne Pathog Dis, 2009; 6:1259-64. Read the article.