Product samples

victoire

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
Hello,

We are preparing to launch a food product (powdered drink mix) and we're about to send sample pouches to potential buyers at supermarkets. We won't be selling any of these pouches.

  • Do we need liability insurance?

  • Can we use non organic ingredients in a pouch that says organic?

  • do we need everything to be official: shelf life, gluten-free certifications, nutrifacts, UPC codes?
Thank you so much,
Victoire
 
Do we need liability insurance?

Define "need."

With that said, what if your "food product" causes injury to someone -- do you have the means to scratch out a six figure check to pay the damages? What if someone simply claims that your "food product" has caused injury and sues you -- do you have the means to write a five figure check for the retainer fee for your legal bills? What if the FDA decides you did something wrong and fines you -- do you have the means to pay large fines? If you have answered any of these questions in the negative, then you have also answered your own question.

Can we use non organic ingredients in a pouch that says organic?

If you're planning on distributing a "food product" and don't have even a basic understanding of product labeling laws, you will fail quickly and spectacularly. At the very least, you need to consult with an attorney who has knowledge of such laws.

do we need everything to be official: shelf life, gluten-free certifications, nutrifacts, UPC codes?

I don't really know what these questions mean, but I doubt any retailer is going to sell any product that isn't packaged with a UPC code. As for the rest of this, refer back to my comment regarding product labeling laws.
 
Hi zddoodah, and thank you so much for your reply. That was extremely helpful.

The reason I was asking this is because we won't be selling these 'samples', only using them to make people try the product. We were not sure if some legal requirements were only for products that were meant to be sold, not offered. Hence why we were wondering if we could make people try the non-organic version instead of the organic. That's also why we wanted to wait until we had the 'real' product to apply for a UPC Code, nutrifacts etc.

Understood about the insurance: Even if we won't be selling these samples, anyone could sue us. I thought that only applied in a relationship where a customer bought a product.

Thanks again!
 
We were not sure if some legal requirements were only for products that were meant to be sold, not offered.

That's certainly a legitimate inquiry. However, that's not the sort of thing about which you should be relying on anonymous strangers on the internet. You need a real consultation with someone who either has expertise in the area or who can research it for you.

we were wondering if we could make people try the non-organic version instead of the organic.

I'm not sure what "make people try" means, but that potentially creates a whole different set of issues.
 
From a liability standpoint it doesn't matter if the customer pays for the use of the product or gets it for free. You provide it, you get to be the target for the lawsuit when something goes wrong.
 
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