Thought for Food Blog

Food Labelling

Once mainly ignored but now often scoured by dieters, ingredient-savvy shoppers and increasingly the general public, the nutrition facts label, also referred to as the nutrition information panel, and other variations, is a label required on most packaged food in many countries.

European Union

Food labelling is determined by recommended daily allowances, energy conversion factors and definitions, and is regulated by the European Commission Directive 2008/100/EC of 28th October 2008.

Food Labelling | IFIS Publishing

Typically presented in panel format, the information is most often called ‘Nutrition Information’ or the equivalent in other EU languages. The panel is optional, but if provided, the set content and format must be followed. It will always give values for a set quantity – usually 100g or 100ml of the product – and often also for a defined ‘serving’ size.

India

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is responsible for ensuring safe food to the consumers and administers the Prevention of Food Adulteration (5th Amendment) Rules. Packaged food manufacturers must declare on their product labels nutritional information and a mark from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and/or Agmark – companies that are responsible for checking food products – to enable consumers to make informed choices while purchasing.

Canada

In 2003, Canada introduced a standardised ‘Nutrition Facts’ label as part of a series of regulations. It became mandatory for most prepackaged food products on December 12th 2005.

Canadian regulation tightly controls the precise way the nutrition fact table (NFT) data is presented. However, there is a wide variety of possible configurations for use on a specific food package. There are 28 main formats, and 2-7 sub formats and a selection hierarchy process is employed to select the correct option. Standard (vertical) formats are the preferred design but horizontal and linear formats are permitted when the standard layout is not possible.

The selection hierarchy also allows the NFT to occupy no more than 15% of the physical package's available display area (ADS), but never to be smaller than a format that would be less than 15% of ADS. Therefore, determining the ADS of a package and selecting the appropriate NFT format can be quite a task!

Mexico

Food products sold in Mexico use the NOM-051-SCFI-1994 ‘Información nutrimental’ labelling standard – very similar to "Nutrition Facts" in the US. The Official Mexican Standard, or NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana), was developed by the Mexican Secretary of Commerce and Industrial Promotion (Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial, or SCFI) and came into effect in 1996.

United States

In the US, the Nutritional Facts label is based on a ‘normal’ human diet of 2,000 calories (kcal) and the recommended nutrients that should be consumed or limited. The label then details the percentage of each nutrient it contains.

A standard serving measurement is listed first; calories are second, and then a breakdown of the constituent elements. Always listed are total fat, sodium, carbohydrates and protein; the other nutrients typically shown may be left out if they are zero. Usually all 15 nutrients are shown: calories, calories from fat, fat, saturated fat, trans fat (unsaturated fat), cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron.

The label became mandatory for most food products since the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), based on the recommendations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Current US attitudes to food labelling and biotechnology

The International Food Information Council's (IFIC) 2012 ‘Consumer Perceptions of Technology’ survey shows that Americans remain highly supportive of existing federal rules for labelling foods produced through biotechnology and very few cite biotechnology as an information need on the food label.

The majority of Americans, 74%, have some awareness of plant biotechnology and almost 40% are favourable toward the use of biotechnology in food production. Of the 35% of consumers who expect biotechnology will provide benefits to them or their families in the next five years, 36% expect nutrition and health benefits, while 22% listed improved quality, taste and variety as beneficial characteristics to expect.

According to the survey, satisfaction with current food labels remains high, despite extensive coverage of biotech labelling and modern food production issues in traditional and social media. Some 76% of consumers could not think of any additional information (other than what is already required) that they wish to see on food labels.

Of the 24% who wanted more information, 36% wanted information related to nutritional content; 19 % wanted more information about ingredients; and 18% wanted more food safety related information, such as possible allergens.

Only 3% of the 24% subset (or about five people and less than 1% of all surveyed) wanted more information about biotechnology. In addition, 87% of Americans say they have not taken any action out of concern about biotechnology.

(Image Credit: Comfreak at www.pixabay.com)



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