The Labelling of Products

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The Labelling of Products

• Lisa-Marie Hanna
• Step-Up
• Friday 20th April 2007

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Content

• Introduction
• Specification Requirements
• Food Law
• Food Labelling Regulations 1996
• Supermarkets
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Consumers should be
• confident with their choice of foods
• able to buy according to their particular
  requirements (diet, health, personal taste,
  preferences, cost)
• able to make comparisons
• This lecture will look at the current legal
  requirements for the labelling of food products
• By the end of the lecture you will have produced
  a nutritional label for your food product.
  Remember this is only one of the legal
  requirements of a food label

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Specification Requirements

• Legal requirement all packaged food products
  must be correctly labelled.
• The label must contain
• 1. a full ingredients list in descending
  composition
• 2. nutritional information specific to the
  product.
• Your label must fulfil current legal requirements

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Food Law

• General food law
• Food Safety Act 1990
• Trade Descriptions Act 1968
• Weights and Measures Act 1985
• Food (Lot Marking) Regulations 1996

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(No Transcript)
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Food Labelling Regulations 1996

• For 20yrs (1979-1999) Council Directive
  79/112/EEC was the principal food labelling
  legislation of the EU (labelling, presentation
  and advertising)
• In 2000 it and its amendments were consolidated
  into Directive 2000/13/EC
• Key Principles
• Inform and protect
• Prohibit the use of information that might
  mislead the purchaser
• Additional information

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Directive Insists on

• The name of the food
• List of ingredients
• Quantity of certain ingredients
• The net quantity
• Date of minimum durability
• Any special storage conditions or conditions of
  use

• Name and address of the manufacturer, packager or
  seller
• Place of origin, if omission of such information
  would mislead
• Any necessary instructions for use
• Alcoholic strength by volume for beverages
  containing more than 1.2 by volume

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Name of Food

• If the name of food is laid down in EU
  legislation it must be used
• If there is no name, the supplier must use a
  customary name or description that is clear
  enough to convey to the purchaser its true nature
• If a food has been treated or its physical
  condition has been changed e.g. dried,
  concentrated, pasteurised, sterilised, frozen it
  must be indicated if omission of such information
  would confuse

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List of Ingredients

• An ingredient is
• Any substance that is used in the manufacture
  or preparation of the food and is still present
  in the finished product
• This includes additives but NOT those used as
  processing aids etc.
• Specific names must be
• given

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Quantitative Ingredient Declaration QUID

• All ingredients that appear in the legal name or
  label, or which are essential to characterise a
  food and to distinguish it from other products
  which it may be confused, should be quantified
• Ham and mushroom pizza
• Vegetable pasty
• Lancashire hot pot
• Chilli con carne
• Strawberry yoghurt
• Pork sausage
• Exemptions

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Minimum Durability

• Best-before date at which the foodstuff retains
  its specific properties when properly stored
  (day/month/year). Alternatively the following are
  possible
• Only the day/month if the date is within 3 months
  
• Best before end' and month/year if the date is
  from 3 to 18 months
• 'best before end' and month/year or year if date
  is more than 18 months

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Minimum Durability

• Exemptions

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Special Storage Conditions or Conditions of Use

• If the consumer needs to observe certain
  practices once the packaging of a food has been
  opened
• If certain practices need to be observed before
  consumption
• If various options are available or
• If foods are not appropriate or suitable for use
  in certain circumstances

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Name and Address of Manufacturer, Packager or
Seller

• Contact address for customer (in case of
  complaint or query)

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Instructions for Use

• Cooking or re-heating
• Easy to follow
• MAFF microwave labels

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Alcoholic Strength by Volume

• For beverages containing more than 1.2 by volume

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Recent Supplementary Provisions

• packaged in a protective atmosphere on food
  whose shelf-life has been extended by means of
  packaging gases
• Mention of sweeteners both in the ingredients
  list and in the name of the food
• Aspartame source of phenylalanine

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Allergens- The Food Labelling (Amendment No. 2)
Regulations (NI) 2004 in operation from 25th
Nov 2005)

• Any allergens that are present have to be stated
• Cereals containing gluten
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Soya beans
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at levels above
  10mg/kg or 10mg/L

• Milk
• Nuts
• Celery
• Mustard
• Sesame seeds

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Manner of Marketing and Labelling

• No regulations on size or types of letters to be
  used
• Must be easy to understand, easily visible,
  clearly legible and indelible
• Name, net quantity, date mark and alcoholic
  strength must be in the same field of vision

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Nutritional Information

• Increasing interest between diet and health has
  led to a sharper focus on the nutritional aspects
  of the food supply.
• Interest in nutrition in respect to total diet
  and individual foods is the 2nd concern to
  consumers, 1st is food hygiene.
• At point of purchase food label provides
  information that enables consumer to make a
  choice between products

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Issues manufacturers need to consider in
deciding whether or not to include nutritional
information

• Is it required by legislation/ what are the
  regulatory requirements?
• Can I conform with these?
• Will it be helpful to my customer / do they
  require the info?
• Are my competitors providing nutritional info
• Will it give me an advantage over my competition?
• Is there space on the label?
• Two important points should be borne in mind

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Nutrition Labelling Directive (90/496/EEC)

• Means of providing consumers with information
  about the nutrient content of the foods they were
  choosing in a standardised format recognisable
  across the EU thereby also promoting freedom of
  movement of goods in the single market.
• Info needs to be simple and easily understood
  with a standardised format to allow comparison
  between products.
• Provisions of the current legislation
• Format currently voluntary unless a claim is
  made e.g. reduced fat.
• If given must be in one of two formats
• Group 1 the Big 4 Energy, Protein,
  Carbohydrate, Fat (in that order)
• Group 2 the Big 4 plus little 4 Energy,
  Protein, Carbohydrate, Sugars, Fat, Saturates,
  Fibre, Sodium (in that order)

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• Quantities must be given /100g or /100ml or /100g
  or /100ml plus per serving
• Info must be given in one place, in tabular form,
  with the numbers aligned if space permits
• Declarations may also be made in respect of
  vitamins and minerals but must be present in
  significant values 15 of RDA supplied / 100g
  or /100ml or /packet if packet is only 1 serving)
• A declaration may also be made for
• Starch Polyols Monounsaturates
• Saturates Polyunsaturates
  
• Cholesterol

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Nutrient Claims

• Info must be given if a claim is made e.g. low
  in fat.
• Group 1 info must be given
• Very often Group 2 info is given but this would
  only be compulsory if a claim was made for one of
  the little 4 e.g. low in saturated fat
• Low energy no more than 40kcal/100g or 100ml
  for liquids
• Low Fat no more than 3g/100g for solids or
  3ml/100ml for liquids
• Fat Free no more than 0.15g/100g or 100ml
• Low saturates no more than 1.5g/100g and lt 10
  of total energy
• Saturates free - lt 0.1g/100g or 100ml

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Claims

• Low sugar no more than 5g/100g or 100ml
• Sugar free no more than 0.2g/100g or 100ml
• Low salt/sodium no more than 40mg sodium/100g
  or 100ml
• Salt free no more than 5mg sodium /100g or
  100ml
• Increased fibre at least 25 more than a
  similar food for which no claim is made or at
  least 3g in the reasonable daily intake of a food
• High fibre at least 6g/100g or 100ml or at
  least 6g in the reasonable expected daily intake
  of the foods

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Consumer Expectations

• Nutritional Labels should provide clear and
  concise information
• When do consumers use Nutritional Information
  Panels
• Problems they have with Nutritional Labelling
• Consumer Recommendations

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Food Labelling on the Web

• http//www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/label/index.htm

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What the Supermarkets are doing

• Guideline Dietary Amount (GDA) system
• Sainsbury, Asda and Waitrose, the Co-Op and Marks
  and Spencer have all opted for a traffic-light
  label
• This is the system the Food Standards Agency
  would like the whole industry to adopt
• There are claims that the traffic light system is
  easier to use
• Its supporters say the GDA system is flawed
  because many adults do not understand percentages

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Traffic Light System
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FSA Traffic Light System

• Low Medium High
• Per 100g Per 100g Per 100g
• Fat 0-3g 3g - 20g 20g and over
• Saturated fat 0-1.5g 1.5g - 5g 5g and
  over
• Total sugars 0-5g 5g - 15g 15g and
  over
• Salt 0-0.3g 0.3g - 1.5g 1.5g and over
  
• Source Food Standards Agency

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GDA System

• Supported by a coalition of the UK's biggest food
  and drink manufacturers as well as supermarkets
  Tesco, Somerfield and Morrison
• GDA labelling shows percentages of guideline
  daily amounts per serving

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GDA System Explained

• Women Men
• Energy (Calories) 2,000 2,500
• Protein 45g 55g
• Carbohydrate 230g 300g
• of which sugars 90g 120g
• Fat 70g 95g
• of which saturates 20g 30g
• Fibre 24g 24g
• Sodium 2.4g 2.4g
• Equivalent as salt 6g 6g
• Source Institute of Grocery Distribution

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Other Icons also being used by Supermarkets
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Conclusion

• Consumer information and consumer education are
  NOT the same thing
• Responsibility lies with government, consumer and
  health organisations, media and trade
• If the provision of nutrition information is to
  assist consumers to choose a more healthy,
  balanced diet, they must first know what the diet
  should consist of, then how to use nutrition
  information to help achieve it

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• Consistency and simplicity in the message would
  be a good start followed by consistency and
  simplicity on the label
• Perhaps future policy should gravitate towards
  providing only the essential info and giving
  interested consumers quick and easy access to any
  other nutrition info they may wish to know via
  another medium
• Any Questions?
• Thank you