Ireland Defines “Small” and “Local” Quantities for Food Labeling

16 Nov 2016 --- The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is reminding food businesses that new mandatory EU regulations that require most pre-packed products to provide nutritional information to consumers will come into force shortly.

December 13, 2016 will see the regulation take effect, although certain pre-packed foods will be exempt from the requirement to provide nutrition information, one of which is the manufacture of small quantities of foods that are supplied directly by the manufacturer to the consumer or to local retailers for direct supply to the consumer. 

The EU legislation advised that each individual member state should come up with a definition for their local market as to what constitutes “small quantities” or “local”. In the case of Ireland, the Department of Health has now introduced Irish law defining what is meant by the two terms; “small quantities” and “local retail establishment.” The definitions were determined following a public consultation carried out by the FSAI on behalf of the Department.

Minister with responsibility for health promotion, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, welcomed the introduction of mandatory nutrition declarations on most pre-packed food products. 

“The provision of details of the energy values and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt in a product will inform consumers and help them make healthier food choices,” she says.

While FSAI CEO, Dr Pamela Byrne, claims this new Irish legislation will provide certainty and assist compliance among food businesses when it comes into effect and directs manufacturers and retailers to look up exemptions. 

“Under the new legislation, ‘small quantities’ of food is defined as (a) 250 kilograms or liters per week or 13,000 kilograms or liters of products per year or (b) 500 units per week or 26,000 units per year. Manufacturers can choose either. ‘Local’ is defined as not more than 100km from where the product is manufactured. The FSAI has prepared Q&A which provide guidance for manufacturers and retailers on the exemption and these are free to download from our website.”

The Q&A includes subjects of note to manufacturers such as how a food manufacturer proves that their prepacked products are exempt, how long records must be kept, rules for internet sales, how weight is calculated and many more. It also details the full list of foods which are exempt from the requirement. 

Minister for Health, Simon Harris, referred to the new rules originally being set out almost two years ago when food businesses were given two years to prepare for the December 13 date of application.

He said that the “primary objective of the suite of legislation is to allow consumers to make informed food choices about the pre-packed food they are purchasing”, and that the EU regulation, “also recognizes that the requirement for mandatory nutritional information may place a burden on certain food businesses and allows for certain exemptions. The S.I. being introduced provides definition to what will be deemed ‘small quantities’ of food and ‘local retail establishments’ for the purpose of the exemption thus providing clarity to food businesses and indeed to the prospective retailer and consumer”.