Highlighting the Food Information Regulation introduced food labelling regulations in 2014, it governs food and nutrition value labelling uniformly for Europe (EU Regulation No. 1169/2011).
Firstly according to this the rules of the general food labelling regulations and law became applicable from December 13 2014 and the rules of nutrition value labelling are binding from December 13 2016 onwards.
Also these food labelling regulations mean that food businesses throughout the UK need to ensure they are geared up to declare certain allergenic ingredients and to clearly display on their labels the nutritional value of the products they are selling. Bizerba can help.
Regarding Food Labelling Regulations
Consider further 14 different allergenic ingredients which must be declared on the label – these include:
- Celery.
- Cereals containing gluten – including wheat, rye, barley and oats.
- Crustaceans – including prawns, crab and lobster.
- Fish.
- Eggs and egg products.
- Milk.
- Nuts.
- Sesame seeds.
- Mustard.
- Soya beans.
- Lupin.
- Sulphur Dioxide and sulphates at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg or 10mg/L.
In addition all of these ingredients which are used in non-pre-packed or loose food, must be declared either on the label or on information such as a menu if being served in a food service outlet, restaurant or delicatessen.
Furthermore to sell food and drink products the label must be clear and easy to read, permanent, easy to understand, easily visible and not misleading. Enquire about a Bizerba thermal food label solution.
Smaller retailers selling non-packaged products and products produced in store need to ensure that all product labels have nutritional information on them.
Food Labelling Regulations What Consumers expect.
In conclusion consumers are now looking for and expecting to see nutrition on the packaging of foods they buy and if you are not yet doing this then it might be the right time to look at what your business needs in terms of compliance and how Bizerba can help you become compliant, before it becomes law.
Finally the Food Information Regulation 2014 is very specific on what needs to go on the label; weight, price, ingredients, allergens, nutritional information etcetera. are all required to be printed to minimum sizes.
In addition this will either be pre-printed on the label or printed at the point of sale. Either way it’s important that the label you currently use is designed to accommodate this information.
Read more about food industry labelling.
So for further information on how to make sure that your business is fully compliant before 13 December 2016, visit The Government Food Enforcement Regulation .
For a site survey or more information visit Bizerba (UK) Ltd
