38|Retail News|July/August 2014|www.retailnews.ie
Labelling
New Labelling Laws On the Way New Food Labelling Requirements in EU Food Information Regulation 1169/2011 come into play in December 2014, writes Raymond O’Rourke, Food & Consumer Lawyer. EP & Council Regulation 1169/2011/EC merges while at the same time amends EP & Council Directive 2000/13/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs and Council Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs. The first issue to note is that the Regulation covers food information rather than food labelling. The definition of food information is “information concerning a food and made available to the final consumer by
means of a label, other accompanying material, or any other means including modern technology tools or verbal communication”. In that case, any information industry provides by means of website or via social media will now fall within the ambit of this Regulation and therefore, you could be prosecuted for using information on a website that is not in line with the obligations contained in the Regulation. Mandatory Nutrition Declarations One of the major reforms in this
legislation is that Nutritional Declarations [Nutrition Facts box] will now be mandatory and must include: • energy value; • amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt [N.B. – order has changed with fats first etc.]; • the following items can be added to the declaration as a supplement mono-unsaturates; polyunsaturates; polyols; starch; fibre; vitamins or minerals (in Annex XIII); • trans-fats – the European Commission is to complete a report by the end of 2014 on the scientific evidence in Member States, diets, dietary guidelines etc as a means of assessing the need for a mandatory declaration for trans-fats; • Declaration in addition to per 100g/100ml shall also include: a per portion basis or per consumption unit; • All nutrition particulars will be presented in the same field of