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The Law in the UK on Food Labelling is multifaceted and is spread over many reforms and Parliamentary Acts , making the subject complex. However, there are general laws which should be implied on any food product:
- – This must also inform the customer the nature of the product. It may also be necessary to attach a description to the product name. However, there are certain generic names which must be only used for their conventional uses, for example: Muesli, Coffee, prawns.
- – All Ingredients of the food must be stated under the heading Ingredients and must be stated in descending weight. Moreover, certain ingredients must be identified by a specific name, such as Preservatives must be identified as ‘Preservatives’, and then identified by its standardised European serial number, e.g. sodium nitrate or E250.
- – Although it is not legal to declare Nutritional Labelling , on the product if you make claims that your product is ‘Low in Sugar’ it must be supported with Nutritional Labelling . However, as a rule it is recommended to declare nutritional ingredients as consumers more than ever are looking at this information. Moreover, there are two European nutritional labelling standards which must be complied to if nutritional information is shown.
- – Nutritional claims are tightly regulated, some are only allowed under certain conditions while others are not authorised at all. For example, presenting claims the food product can treat, prevent or cure diseases or other ‘adverse conditions’ are prohibited. While claiming the food is reduced in energy or rich in vitamins require the food to meet compulsory standards and grades, in addition, the terms must be used in a form specified in regulations.
- – There are two types of date tagging:
- --- – ‘ Use By Date ’ must be followed by a day or/and month which the product must be consumed by. To be employed on perishable foods that usually would be maintained cold, for example, fish meat dairy products and ‘ready to eat’ salads.
- --- – The date must be set when the food starts to degrade from optimal quality: this includes when the food becomes stale, develops an ‘off-flavour’ or, decays, rots or goes mouldy. There are also regulations on which type of best before date must be applied:
-- Best before + Day for foods with life up to 3 months.
-- Best before end + Month for foods with more than a 3 month shelf life.
-- Best before end + Year for food with more than an 18 month shelf life.
- – If there are any particular storage conditions for the product to maintain its shelf life, accordingly must be declared. However, as a rule it is recommended to always describe the necessary storage conditions for a food product.
- – In addition to the business name and address, it is necessary to indicate the manufacture or packager, if independent to the main business and the seller established within the European Union .
- – The food is required to specific its place of origin, especially, if the name or trade mark is misleading - such as if the product was called ‘English Brie Cheese’ when the product was produced in France.
- – This is only necessary if it is not obvious on how to use or prepare the product, own initiative must be used.
- – The label must be legible and easy to read, also it must be written in English, however, the manufacture may also include other languages.
- – It must be possible to identify individual patches with a lot mark - the code must be prefixed with the letter ‘L’ if it can not be distinguish form other codes, however, the date mark can be used as a lot mark. Bear in mind the smaller the size of a lot, the smaller financial consequences of a product recall.
- – All of the following must be in the same field of vision: name of product; date mark; weight or quantity and alcohol strength (if applicable).
However, there are many other Laws and European regulations for different types of food products.
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