Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
General information only, not medical advice. Checked against the sources listed below on 2 November 2026.
Short answer
Personal care items are products used to maintain or enhance a person’s health, hygiene or appearance, such as toiletries, cosmetics, first-aid supplies and medicine. The phrase has no single definition: retailers use it for a product aisle, the FDA sorts the products by intended use, and some state food codes define it as a legal term for things that may be poisonous, toxic or a source of contamination.
Definition and scope: three meanings of the same phrase
The same two words are used in three different ways, and a policy, contract or inspection checklist only makes sense once you know which one it means.
| Meaning | What decides whether an item counts | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FDA product classification | Intended use. The FD&C Act defines cosmetics by use for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or altering appearance, and drugs by use in diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating or preventing disease. | FDA, “Is It a Cosmetic, a Drug, or Both? (Or Is It Soap?)” |
| Statutory term in a food code | Hazard plus purpose: the item may be poisonous, toxic or a source of contamination, and it is used to maintain or enhance a person’s health, hygiene or appearance. | Nev. Admin. Code 446.0215 |
A third, informal meaning is the everyday product category: grooming and hygiene goods that sellers group together on their own terms. It has no single authority behind it, which is why the two sourced definitions above are the ones to check when a document needs precision.
How the FDA sorts personal care products
The FDA does not use “personal care items” as a regulatory category. It asks what a product is intended to do. Skin moisturizers, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, makeup, cleansing shampoos, hair colors and deodorants are named as cosmetics. A product intended to treat or prevent disease, or to affect the structure or function of the body, is a drug.
A single product can be both. The FDA’s own example is an antidandruff shampoo: a cosmetic because it cleanses the hair, and a drug because it treats dandruff. It lists toothpastes with fluoride, antiperspirant deodorants, and moisturizers or makeup marketed with sun-protection claims among the cosmetic/drug combinations, and says such products must comply with the requirements for both.
Intended use is established by more than the label. The FDA says it can be shown by claims on labeling, advertising or the internet, by consumer perception, and by ingredients with a well-known therapeutic use.
Legal definition in a state food code
Nevada’s food-establishment regulations define the term in two parts. “Personal care items” are items or substances that (a) may be poisonous, toxic or a source of contamination, and (b) are used to maintain or enhance a person’s health, hygiene or appearance. The definition adds that the term includes, without limitation, medicine, first-aid supplies, cosmetics and toiletries, including toothpaste and mouthwash (Nev. Admin. Code 446.0215, added effective 18 December 2013).
Two points follow from the text. First, the definition is broader than a toiletries shelf: medicine and first-aid supplies are named inside it. Second, it is a defined term in food-establishment rules, so it matters most to places that prepare or serve food. This page does not describe what Nevada requires for these items; that sits in other sections of the chapter.
Where it matters for labs, clinics and supply decisions
For anyone who manages supplies, the useful question is which definition a document is using. A short checklist drawn from the sources above:
- Which meaning does the document use? A purchasing category, an FDA product class and a legal definition each produce a different item list.
- Is the item a cosmetic, a drug or both? The FDA decides this by intended use and claims, so a product’s category can change with its labeling.
- Does the legal definition list it? Under the Nevada text, medicine and first-aid supplies are personal care items, so a first-aid kit is within the term, not outside it.
- Is “soap” really soap? Under the FDA’s reading, only products labeled, sold and represented solely as soap, whose bulk is an alkali salt of fatty acids, fall outside the cosmetic definition and are overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Cleansers with other uses are cosmetics or drugs.
For product lists, see hygiene products and how they are sorted, home caregiver supplies, medical supplies for a doctor’s office and what is inside a first-aid kit. For protective items that are not personal care products, see gloves for health care.
Common misunderstandings
“Personal care” always means toiletries
In the Nevada definition it also covers medicine and first-aid supplies. In retail it usually means grooming and hygiene products.
“Personal care” is a category the FDA regulates
The FDA regulates cosmetics and drugs. The phrase itself is not one of its categories.
“Cosmeceutical” is a legal category
The FDA states that the FD&C Act does not recognize it. A product is a drug, a cosmetic, or both.
FAQ
What is personal care items?
The phrase refers to products people use to maintain or enhance their health, hygiene or appearance. In Nevada’s food regulations it means items that may be poisonous, toxic or a source of contamination and are used for that purpose, including medicine, first-aid supplies, cosmetics and toiletries.
What are personal care items?
Examples named in the sources are medicine, first-aid supplies, cosmetics, toiletries, toothpaste and mouthwash (Nev. Admin. Code 446.0215), and, in FDA terms, skin moisturizers, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, makeup, cleansing shampoos, hair colors and deodorants.
Sources
- Nevada Administrative Code 446.0215, “Personal care items” defined, Legal Information Institute: law.cornell.edu/regulations/nevada/NAC-446-0215 (checked 2 November 2026).
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Is It a Cosmetic, a Drug, or Both? (Or Is It Soap?)”: fda.gov (checked 2 November 2026).
