Why do we need food labelling?

Can you think of any reasons for having food labelling? Would you buy a tin of food from a supermarket that had no label on it? How would you know what was in it?

Food labels have many different functions, for example:

1. Providing information for the consumer, such as a description of the food

2. Making a product stand out from others, thereby promoting its sale

3. Ensuring consumer safety, for example by showing food storage and cooking information

Can you think of any others?

What’s on a label?

In addition to information that helps consumers choose between products, European Union (EU) law requires that certain information is displayed on a food label. This acts as a safeguard for the consumer.

Information required by European Law

The name of the food

The name of the food must be clearly displayed on all pre-packed foods. This is one of the most important pieces of information on a label. For example, it is not sufficient to just say ‘cheese’, because there are so many different types of cheese. Other foods have made-up names which give no information about what is in the food. In such cases, a clear description of the food must be given, for example “M&M’s” – milk chocolate covered peanuts in a crisp coloured shell. The name must also include information about any processing the food has undergone, for example dried apricots, salted peanuts or smoked mackerel. It must also describe the differences between apparently similar products. For example a yogurt labelled ‘fruit yogurt’ must be flavoured with real fruit, whereas a yogurt labelled ‘fruit flavoured yogurt’ can be flavoured with artificial flavourings.

Weight or volume

The weight or volume of pre-packed foods must be shown on the label. The symbol e indicates an average quantity i.e. the average pack is at least the weight declared. Comparing the weight with the price of different brands enables consumers to make choices between brands based on value for money.

Ingredients

Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight, according to the amounts used to make the food. The ingredient names must be given in the language of the country where the food is to be sold. All additives must be stated on the ingredients list.

Allergens

A new European Union (EU) labelling rule introduced in 2004 requires 12 food ingredients that may cause adverse reactions in some individuals - milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts from trees (e.g. walnuts), fish, crustaceans, soya, wheat, celery, mustard, sesame and sulphur dioxide – to be clearly labelled on food products. This is particularly helpful to people with food allergies and food intolerances, who may need to avoid these specific food ingredients.

Date and storage conditions

Information must be provided on how long a product will keep, and how the product should be stored. ‘Date marking’ provides an important safeguard against foods which may be unsafe to eat. Following storage instructions can prevent food from spoiling too quickly, and helps to ensure that food looks and tastes its best when eaten. Perishable foods that spoil quickly, such as meat and fish products, have a ‘Use by’ date. ‘Use by’ provides clear instruction that a food should be used by the end of the date shown on the label. Remember though that freezing a product can extend a perishable product’s shelf life, although not indefinitely. Products suitable for freezing sometimes indicate the extended shelf life attributable to freezing, if products are frozen according to the instructions on the label. Other foods which can be kept safely for a longer period of time (e.g. cornflakes) have a ‘Best before date’. After this date foods may still be safe to eat, but they may not be at their best with regards to their flavour, colour and texture.

Preparation instructions

Where relevant, instructions on how to prepare and cook a food must be given on the label. These instructions help to ensure that a food tastes its best when eaten, and that it will be thoroughly heated to a core temperature of 75°C to minimise the risk of food poisoning.

Name and address of manufacturer or seller

The name and address of the manufacturer or seller must be stated on the label. For branded products, this must be the name of the manufacturer. For ‘own label’ this is the name and address of the retailer.

Place of origin

‘Place of origin’ must be included on the label if it is unclear where the food has come from. For example some Greek yogurts are made in France and it might mislead the consumer if this is not properly labelled.

Lot or batch number

The lot or batch number is a code that can identify batches of food in the event that they have to be recalled by the manufacturer, packer or retailer.

Additional information

Nutrition labelling

Nutrition labelling can help consumers to make healthy choices and can provide clear consistent messages to consumers. Nutrition labelling is only required by EU Law where a nutritional claim about a product is made (e.g. low fat, rich in calcium), but as consumers’ knowledge about health and diet grows, many manufacturers are choosing to display nutrition information on food labels. Manufacturers who voluntarily provide nutrition information, or do so because they make a nutrition claim, must follow the rules of the EC Nutrition Labelling Directive 1990. This directive ensures that nutrition information is presented in a standard way, allowing consumers to easily compare the nutrient content of one food with another. The legislation states that:

• The energy value of the food in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal) must be provided
• The amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat in grams (g) must be provided
• Optionally (unless a nutrition claim is made) the amounts of sugars, saturates, fibre and sodium can be provided, if the first four nutrients have been provided.

Nutrition information must always be given as values per 100g or per 100ml of food. Values for a portion or serving can be given as well, provided that the number of servings contained in the pack is shown on the label. The legislation also allows inclusion of information on the amounts of other fatty acids, cholesterol and some specified vitamins and minerals (if they are present in significant amounts) contained within the food. This is optional unless a claim is made about one of these nutrients, in which case it is obligatory that information on the particular nutrient is provided.

Nutrition and health claims

Food manufacturers often want to draw attention to the amount of nutrients present in a food, outside of the nutrition information panel on the label. Nutrition and health claims provide an opportunity for manufacturers to highlight any specific nutritional benefits a food many have, beyond the provision of nutrients for general health and well being. Nutrition claims refer to any statement outside of the nutrition information panel, which declares or implies that a food contains one or more nutrients. In Europe, many nutrition claims are defined in legislation (e.g. ‘source of calcium’) , but there is currently no specific legislation relating to health claims e.g. ‘can help reduce blood cholesterol’ etc. (although the law says that any claim made must be true and not misleading). Nutrition is a fast-moving subject area, but European legislation relating to nutrition and health claims has not kept up with product development. This has led to manufacturers across Europe developing their own criteria for nutrition and health claims, often causing consumer confusion. Some countries have also established voluntary systems by which manufacturers can request assessment of health claims, e.g. the Joint Health Claims Initiative in the UK (http://www.jhci.co.uk/ ). The European Commission is currently looking at harmonising the different national laws relating to nutrition and health claims, in order to protect consumers and promote innovation in food. For more information on this topic, see the Nutrition and Health Claims web feature.

Where does nutrition information come from?

We have seen why food labelling is important, and what information is displayed on food labels, but where do manufacturers get the nutrition information for their products from? Nutrition information for use on food labels can be obtained from two main sources.

1. By direct chemical analysis

   The ‘gold standard’ for manufacturers to obtain nutrition information for their products is to chemically analyse samples of their products in a laboratory. For example, the protein content of a food can be determined by measuring the food’s nitrogen content in the laboratory, and this value used to calculate the protein content of the food. The EC Nutrition Labelling Directive 1990 provides energy conversion factors which manufacturers must use to calculate how much energy is in the food. For example, 1g of protein provides 4 kcal of energy and 1g of fat provides 9 kcal. While chemical analysis of a food provides accurate information on the food’s nutrient content, it is often expensive, and many manufacturers lack the facilities and expertise to analyse their products in-house. A more cost effective and equally acceptable way for manufacturers to calculate nutrition information for their products is to use officially published food composition data.

2. Using food composition data to inform food labelling

Food composition databases (FCDBs) contain information on the nutrient content of a range of different foods and ingredients. Typically, FCDBs provide values for the amount of energy, protein, fat and vitamins & minerals that 100g of a particular food or ingredient contains. The nutrient values for the foods and ingredients listed in the database are usually derived by chemical analyses of the foods and then compiled into databases. Manufacturers may then use the nutrient values from these official databases to calculate the nutrition information for their products. Where the manufacturer’s product itself has not been analysed by the database compilers (e.g. a cook-chill lasagne), the manufacturer can calculate the nutrient content of the product from the nutrient values of the individual ingredients that make up the product. For example, in the case of the cook-chill lasagne, the nutrition information can be calculated by adding the nutrient values of the correct amounts of pasta, minced beef, tomatoes and other ingredients that make up the lasagne.

What are the limitations of using FCDBs to inform food labels?

Can you think of any problems with using FCDBs for nutrition information panels? In addition to using FCDBs to construct nutrition information panels on labels, food manufacturers often use information from FCDBs to share product information with consumers – for example through advertisements and websites. This is one of the reasons why it is important that FCDBs are regularly updated, so that they accurately reflect the nutrient content of foods that are eaten. Further Information on the following topics can be found on line:

• European laws covering food labelling (e.g. EU Directive 2000/13/EC) http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/labellingnutrition/nutritionlabel/index_en.htm

• Food composition databases and the chemical analysis of foods http://www.eurofir.net/public.asp?id=1823