FIC Regulation: New Look Labeling to Inform Consumers Introduced Across Europe

12 Dec 2014 --- A new mandatory food labelling system will land on supermarket shelves and restaurants across the EU from tomorrow (December 13). The new EU food labeling rules, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in 2011 [Food Information for Consumers Regulation], are claimed to ensure that consumers receive clearer, more comprehensive and accurate information on food content, and help them make informed choices about what they eat.

The EU Commissioner in charge of Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis said: "As of 13 December 2014, European citizens will see the results of years of work to improve food labeling rules. Key content information will now be more clearly marked on labels, helping people make informed choices on the food they buy. The new rules put the consumer first by providing clearer information, and in a way that is manageable for businesses."

Some of the key changes to the labeling rules are outlined below:
• Improved legibility of information (minimum font size for mandatory information);
• Clearer and harmonized presentation of allergens (e.g. soy, nuts, gluten, lactose) for prepacked foods (emphasis by font, style or background colour) in the list of ingredients;
• Mandatory allergen information for non-prepacked food, including in restaurants and cafes;
• Requirement of certain nutrition information for majority of prepacked processed foods;
• Mandatory origin information for fresh meat from pigs, sheep, goats and poultry;
• Same labeling requirements for online, distance-selling or buying in a shop;
• List of engineered nanomaterials in the ingredients.
• Specific information on the vegetable origin of refined oils and fats;
• Strengthened rules to prevent misleading practices;
• Indication of substitute ingredient for 'Imitation' foods;
• Clear indication of "formed meat" or "formed fish"; and
• Clear indication of defrosted products.
However, rules relating to mandatory nutritional labeling for processed food will only apply from 13 December 2016.

Monique Goyens, Director General of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), commented: “These new rules prove the EU is working towards clearer food information for consumers. It’s the right reflex given how recent scandals shook up consumers’ confidence. They have the right to know what they eat.”

“Consumers are often in a hurry when food shopping, so shunting nutrition information to the back-of-packs requires them an extra effort. Such key information should be upfront.”

“Food manufacturers will still be free to define portions. Foods for one person, such as a frozen pizza or yoghurt, are obvious portions, but the same cannot be said for foodstuffs like cereals and soup. Unrealistic portions can disguise unhealthy ingredient levels and regulators should provide guidance on portions.”

“Giving information to consumers is worthwhile only if they can read it. So far, there was no font size requirement, leaving the door open to illegible fonts. Now, a minimum size has been set but will be only 1.2 mm, about the size of a poppy seed.”

“The origin of fresh meat will be less mysterious with the new rules - the countries in which the animal is reared and slaughtered will be finally on display. But we see no valid reason why birthplace labelling was scrapped. Consumers want full origin information, not just scraps.”

“We expect the nutrition rules to translate swiftly and manufacturers not drag out the two-year window until December 2016.”

Barbara Gallani, Director of Regulation, Science & Health at the Food and Drink Federation, the voice of UK food and drink manufacturers, said: “Food and drink labelling helps make informed purchasing decisions by enabling individuals to check, compare and choose between similar products. Consumers have long had access to considerable product information on-pack, including nutrition information which has been voluntarily provided by UK food and drink producers for nearly a decade.”

“With its wide-ranging changes, the EU FIC has introduced the biggest change to on-pack labelling for the modern food industry and FDF members have been working to make sure that their product labels are compliant ahead of tomorrow's deadline. To help shoppers make the most of these changes and use them with confidence, for its part the UK food industry has updated and re-launched its popular, consumer-friendly labelling website. This resource builds on FDF's free food labelling toolkit for health professionals and the efforts of individual companies.”

A spokesperson for retailer Tesco told www.foodingredientsfirst.com, "Tesco has been working on this for a long time. Given the amount of time that we have known about these new rules, we have had time to work with our suppliers and ensure that changes are already in place for when the new rules come in."

Food business operators have been given three years to ensure a smooth transition towards the new labeling regime for prepacked and non-prepacked foods. In addition, the Regulation provides for exhaustion of stocks for foods placed on the market or labeled before 13 December 2014 (N.B. this does not include exhaustion of stocks of labels).

The Commission has been working together with businesses to ensure that the new rules will be properly implemented. Work is also underway on developing an EU database to facilitate the identification of all EU and national mandatory labeling rules in a simple way. This will offer a user-friendly tool for all food business operators and for SME's to consult. The work for the creation of the database should be carried out during 2015.

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of information to consumers replaces and combines into one piece of legislation previous labeling rules deriving from Directive 2000/13/EC regarding labeling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs and Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labeling of foodstuffs and other legislative acts for specific categories of foods.

The EC note that small, illegible information is a key issue being addressed in the new legislation. “The rules require that mandatory information must be printed in a minimum font size and voluntary information (e.g. slogans or claims) must not be presented in a way that adversely affects the presentation of the mandatory information. Additional rules on legibility will also be established in the future,” they write.

The EC claim that the new regulation should promote healthier eating. “Clearer information on certain important nutritional characteristics of processed foods – energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt – will be provided. This will enable consumers to compare foods before purchasing, helping them to make more informed dietary choices to meet their individual requirements. It will also be possible for information on selected nutrients to be included on the front of the package, which will make it easier for consumers to compare products when shopping.”

The new rules maintain, in general, the current approach: country of origin or place of provenance labeling on food is voluntary, unless its absence could mislead consumers. “The Regulation introduces mandatory origin labeling for fresh meat from sheep, goat, poultry and pigs. The Commission has adopted implementing rules that determine the way the origin information is expressed. The rules, with some exemptions, provide that the Member State or third country where the animal was reared and slaughtered will appear on the label.”

The country of origin or place of provenance of the main ingredients must also be listed if those ingredients originate from a different place than the finished product. For example, butter churned in Belgium from Danish milk could be labeled as "produced in Belgium from Danish milk." Those rules will protect consumers from misleading origin indications and will ensure a level playing field between food business operators.

The new rules will ensure that when a food is not exactly what it appears to be, relevant information will be provided to prevent consumers from being misled by a certain presentation or appearance. “When some ingredients, normally expected to be in the food, have been replaced by others, the substitute ingredients will be labeled prominently on the package and not only in the list of ingredients. For meat and fish products, prominent information will be given on the presence of added water and of any added proteins of different animal origin. In addition, such foods when they give the impression that they are made of a whole piece of meat or fish, although they consist of different pieces combined together, will be labeled as ‘formed meat’ or ‘formed fish.’

For foods implying or indicating a false origin, the new rules set certain criteria to ensure that voluntary origin indications do not mislead consumers. Operators who make origin claims are required to provide further information so that people know where the characterizing ingredient of the food actually comes from, not just the last country where the food was processed.

The changes on the labels will be seen from 13 December 2014, as the food industry has had a transitional period of three years to ensure that that rules will come into effect as of 13 December 2014. However, you may still find on the market products labeled with the old rules as the Regulation provides for exhaustion of stocks for foods placed on the market or labeled before 13 December 2014 (Attention: not exhaustion of stocks for labels).

The rules on mandatory nutrition information will only apply from 13 December 2016. When however the nutrition declaration is provided on the labels after 13 December 2014, it shall comply with the rules of the Regulation.