21 CFR, the parts that govern food

Title 21 runs to 8,415 sections and most of them are medical devices and drugs. These are the 2,681 that govern food: subchapter B entire, plus the import, traceability, enforcement and colour additive parts of subchapter A, the animal food parts of subchapter E, and the milk and conveyance sanitation parts of subchapter L. Current to 2026-09-10.

Sections published

2,681

Parts

86

Of 8,415 in title 21

32%

Register current to

2026-09-10

What is here and what is not

Every section on this site carries the regulation in full, because title 21 is a work of the United States government and is in the public domain. What the eCFR cannot tell you, and what these pages add, is which FDA recalls a clause actually controls: the hazard classification on the recall surface cites specific sections of part 117 and whole parts of 113, 114, 120 and 111, so a clause page can state how many of the 29,386 enforcement records since 2012 name a hazard it governs.

The sections that are not here are the ones Krolda has nothing to say about. 2,541 sections of title 21 are medical devices, 1,411 are animal drugs and 785 are human drugs. Reposting those would be somebody else’s public document with nothing of ours on it.

The parts with the most sections

• Part 1251General Enforcement Regulations
• Part 582243Substances Generally Recognized as Safe
• Part 184215Direct Food Substances Affirmed as Generally Recognized as Safe
• Part 172153Food Additives Permitted for Direct Addition to Food for Human Consumption
• Part 73129Listing of Color Additives Exempt from Certification
• Part 112102Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption
• Part 7489Listing of Color Additives Subject to Certification
• Part 17788Indirect Food Additives: Polymers
• Part 18285Substances Generally Recognized as Safe
• Part 11184Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements
• Part 13375Cheeses and Related Cheese Products
• Part 57370Food Additives Permitted in Feed and Drinking Water of Animals

Questions

What is 21 CFR?

Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations is the body of United States regulation administered by the Food and Drug Administration. It covers food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, biologics and tobacco. The food regulations sit mainly in chapter I subchapter B, with the import, traceability and enforcement rules in subchapter A and animal food in subchapter E.

Which part of 21 CFR covers food safety plans?

Part 117, Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food. It is the FSMA preventive controls rule: subpart B carries the CGMP requirements and subpart C carries the hazard analysis, the preventive controls, the corrective actions and the verification activities a written food safety plan has to contain.

Is 21 CFR free to read and reuse?

Yes. Title 21 is a work of the United States government and is in the public domain. The text on these pages is reproduced in full from the eCFR API. That is not true of the certification schemes: BRCGS and ISO 22000 are sold and their text may not be republished, which is why Krolda maps those by clause identifier and its own summaries only.

How current is the text on these pages?

The register is amended continuously. The text here is current to 2026-09-10, which is the date the eCFR published as up to date for title 21 when this corpus was pulled. Every page links to the eCFR, which is the authoritative source and is always current.