PALEO CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
GRAIN, AND PSEUDOGRAIN- FREE REQUIREMENTS:
All Products should not contain grains or pseudograins to be eligible for use of the Certified Paleo label.
LEGUME- FREE REQUIREMENTS:
All Products should not contain legumes to be eligible for the Certified Paleo Program.
DAIRY-FREE REQUIREMENTS
Certified Paleo Products should not contain dairy ingredients to be eligible for use of the Certified Paleo label. For the purpose of this definition, eggs are not considered dairy.
ADDITIVE-FREE REQUIREMENTS
Certified Paleo Products must not contain Artificial Coloring, Preservatives, Sweeteners, Flavorings, or Flavor Enhancers to be eligible for use of the Certified Paleo Label.
ALLOWED INGREDIENTS:
The following ingredients are eligible for use of the Certified Paleo label. They will be amended from time to time as necessary. These ingredients include, but are not limited to:
Meats
Herbivores must be 100% grass-fed, forage-fed, and pastured. Omnivores should be pastured. USDA inspected, wild-harvested, wild-caught, or trapped animals allowed.
Seafood
Must be Wild-Caught, with the exception of bivalves.
Fruits and Vegetables
All vegetables and fruits are allowed. Vegetable JuicesSea vegetables, Seaweed, Algae, Dried Fruits, Fruit Juices, Berries.
Oils and Fats
Grass-fed and Pastured tallow, lard, and ghee. All nut oils are allowed, as well as Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, High-Oleic Sunflower Oil, Red Palm Oil, and Palm Shortening.
Flours
All nut flours are allowed. Other allowed flours include, but are not limited to: sweet potato flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, cassava flour, and tigernut flour
Milks
All nut milks are allowed. Other allowed milks include, but are not limited to: Hemp Milk, Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, Cashew Milk, and Tigernut Milk.
Nuts and Seeds
All true nuts and seeds are allowed
Fermented Foods
Apple Cider vinegar, Distilled vinegar, Sauerkraut, Kimchi*, Kombucha*, Coconut Kefirs, Coconut Yogurt and Nut-based yogurts are allowed in the Certified Paleo Program.
Spices
All spices are allowed, provided they do not contain ethoxyquin which is not permitted in the Certified Paleo Program. Salt, Sea salts, smoked salts, and salt blends are also allowed.
Mucilages
Mucilages such as psyllium husk, and chia seeds are permitted within the Certified Paleo Program.
Roots and Tubers
All roots and tubers are allowed, including potatoes. To learn more about the Official Paleo Status of Potatoes, click here.
Flavors and Coloring
Allowed flavors include essential oils, oleoresins, extracts*, distillates*, and ingredients that contain flavoring derived from spices, fruits, vegetables and other plant material, meat or insect derivatives, insect oils, and stearic acid*.
Sweeteners
Approved sweeteners include honey, stevia, maple syrup, coconut sugar, coconut sap, coconut nectar, date sugar, fruit juice, birch xylitol*, and monk fruit
Coffee and Tea
All coffees and teas are allowed in the Certified Paleo Program.
Stabilizers
Approved stabilizers include: Sunflower Lecithin, Egg-Derived Lecithin, Gum Arabic, Xanthan Gum*, Mastic Gum Lactic Acid, Citric Acid*, Ascorbic Acid*
Miscellaneous
Grass-fed Gelatin, Collagen, Grass-fed Broths and Protein Isolates, Tapioca Maltodextrin, and Silicon Dioxide as an anti-caking agent are allowed in the Certified Paleo program.
*Source, Substrate, and Amount dependent