Trusted ingredient assurance since 1996.
The American Vegetarian Association® certifies food and consumer products so vegetarian-minded shoppers can choose with confidence. AVA provides Vegetarian, Vegan, Plant-Based, Animal-Free, and Recommended certifications.
Our mission
Reading an ingredient panel shouldn't require a chemistry degree. The AVA Certification Logo gives consumers a quick, reliable way to identify products that meet a clear, audited standard - Vegetarian, Vegan, Plant-Based, or Animal-Free. We work directly with brands of every size, from emerging startups to multinational manufacturers, to verify ingredients, processing, and labeling against the standard you choose. Every certified product is reviewed against documented, publicly available criteria.
A history of the seal
Founded in 1996, AVA has evolved alongside the vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based movements. We have refined our standards and visual marks as the marketplace has matured. Today our five certifications cover the full spectrum from traditional vegetarian formulations that allow dairy and eggs to next-generation animal-free biotechnology produced through precision fermentation. The seal you see on shelves today is the result of nearly three decades of continuous refinement.
Why brands choose AVA
- Trusted by major brands including Taco Bell, Nordic Naturals, Hungry Planet, and Schreiber Foods.
- Five clear standards covering every product story from Vegetarian to Animal-Free.
- 5 to 7 business day certification review once we receive your application, payment, and product information.
- Annual renewal with re-review for any formula or supplier changes.
We treat all non-public product information - including ingredients, formulas, and supplier relationships - as strictly confidential. Our reviewers maintain documented standards so that decisions are consistent, defensible, and aligned with the public-facing definition of each AVA seal.
Independence is core to how AVA operates. Brands cannot pay for an outcome - only for the review itself. Decisions are made against published criteria, and any product that does not meet a standard is told exactly why so the formulation can be revisited and resubmitted. That clarity is part of why retailers, distributors, and major manufacturers continue to recognize the AVA seal as a credible shelf signal.