10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FOOD INFORMATION REGULATIO
1. Nutrition labelling The most far -‐ reaching of the changes are those relating to nutrition labelling. 'Back of pack' nutrition labelling of pre – packed foods will be compulsory. The labelling of energy (in both kJ and kcal), fat, saturates, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt will all be mandatory; it will also be required to declare levels of any nutrients mentioned in claims. Certain other nutrients can be listed, but this is a defined and restricted list. Voluntary 'front of pack' information will continue for energy, fat, saturates, sugar and salt, along with GDAs (Guideline Daily Amounts) per portion, but the use of 'traffic light' schemes will be restricted. Mandatory nutrition informa tion labelling will not be required for products containing more than 1.2% alcohol by volume. Such information may be given voluntarily, and can be limited to energy value only. A decision on whether energy value labelling should be compulsory may be made in the future (a report on this is due by the end of 2014). Although the new nutrition labelling requirements do not become obligatory until 13 December 2016 (two years later than most of the other requirements), between 13 December 2014 and 13 December 2 016 where nutrition declaration is provided on a voluntary basis it must comply with the mandatory provisions. 2. Country of origin labelling Country of origin labelling will become compulsory for fresh and frozen meat of pork, sheep, goats and poultry an d also for primary ingredients where the country of origin of the primary ingredient is not the same as the stated origin of the food. These requirements will apply after the adoption of more detailed rules that will determine the way to express the info rmation, including whether, for meat, separate information should be provided on the places of birth, rearing and slaughter. The more detailed rules are to be introduced within two years. The European Commission is looking into possibly extending mandato ry country -‐ of -‐ origin labelling to other types of meat, meat used as an ingredient, milk, milk used as an ingredient in dairy products, unprocessed foods, single ingredient products and ingredients which represent more than 50% of the food. 3. Allergen labelling Although allergen labelling requirements will be much as they are now, the presence of any of fourteen listed allergens will need to be highlighted in some way to make their presence more obvious to the consumer. This can be through a different typeset (font, style or background colour), but will need to be done for every allergen derivative, even if they are forms of the same allergen. And there may not be exemptions for 'familiar' products/ingredients: e.g. butter may still have to have an ind ication that it is milk -‐ derived. Allergen labelling will also be mandatory for foods sold loose, as it is already for products such as cheese that do not declare an ingredients list. The requirement for information on the risks of cross – contamination is not changing at the moment, but the Commission is going to look into ways of making this voluntary information more consistent. 4. Labelling legibility and clarity Legibility is determined by various factors including font size, letter spacing, spacing b etween lines, stroke width, type colour, typeface, width -‐ height ratio of the letters, the surface of the packaging material and the contrast between the print and the background. There will now be more detailed and specific controls -‐ including a minimum f ont size of 1.2mm (although small packs -‐ below 80cm 2 -‐ can use a 0.9mm font). These two font sizes approximately equate to 8 and 6 point print respectively. A new definition of clarity will refer to specific factors such as contrast. Finally, the required elements of labelling must not be detracted from by other material. 5. Added ingredients in meat and fishery products All meat products and fishery products containing added proteins of a different animal origin will need to refer to these proteins in th eir names. This extends the current UK requirement, which applies only to meat products and only when they have the appearance of a cut, joint or slice of meat. Also when they take this form, meat products must mention in their names the presence of added water above 5%. This largely reflects current rules in the UK, but the application of the same rule to cuts, slices or fillets of fish is another extension . 6. Other meat and fish labelling issues There will need to be an indication of the date of freezing or date of first freezing for frozen meat, frozen meat preparations and frozen unprocessed fishery products. Also required will be an i ndication of the word ‘formed’ in the name of meat products, meat preparations and fishery products which may give the i mpression that they are a whole piece of meat but consist of combined pieces. In addition, s pecific provisions concerning the designation of ‘minced meat’ will apply from 1 January 2014. This will include the need to label fat, protein and collagen in suc h products, in the format shown in the following examples: Percentage of fat content under 15%. Collagen/meat protein ratio under 14% 7. Labelling of vegetable oil Use of the generi c name ‘vegetable oil’ will be lost , unless all vegetable oils are also declared in the ingredients lists thus: "Vegetable oils (soya, palm, sunflower in varying proportions) ..." with total weight of the individual oils deciding their position in the list Additionally ‘fully hydrogenated’ and/or ‘partly hydrogenated’ must b e added as appropriate . 8. Mandatory information for particular products Labelling of high caffeine drinks Drinks other than tea and coffee with high levels of caffeine (above 150mg/l) will need to give the following warning: " High caffeine content. No t recommended for children or pregnant or breast -‐ feeding women " followed by statement of content For solid foods where caffeine has been added at any level for a physiological purpose: " Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children or pregnant women " f ollowed by statement of content. Labelling of aspartame Where aspartame or aspartame/acesulfame salt is listed in an ingredients list by E number, the following warning needs to be given: "Contains aspartame (a source of phenylalanine)" If it is listed as aspartame, the warning should read: " Contains a source of phenylalanine 9. Defrosted foods ‘Defrosted’ must accompany the name of defrosted foods where freezing has an effect on safety or quality; this will not apply if: • freezing is a technologically n ecessary step 10. Strengthening the ban on misleading labelling Food information, advertising and presentation (including shape, appearance, packaging, arrangement, and display setting) must not mislead and must be accurate, clear and easy to understand. L abelling must not suggest that a food has special characteristics when these are shared by all similar foods – this particularly applies to emphasising the presence or absence of certain ingredients and nutrients. For more detailed information on the Foo d Information Regulation itself, come to one of our scheduled sessions, or contact us in order to arrange a tailored briefing focusing on the issues of most relevance to your products. We also offer a label review service -‐ where we can assess whether you r labels are compliant with current and/or forthcoming legislation. C ontact: Joanne Scott jo@strawberrystandards.co.uk 0845 548 8900
Comments