FOOD LABELLING RULES

Regulatory advice on food labelling

Within the framework of Regulatory Affairs, regulatory advice on labels involves an evaluation of the product from various points of view: type, ingredients, additives and special commercial guidelines (e.g. Bio). The legal design of a label is the basis for placing a product on the market and is burdened by many laws and regulations.

Food labelling legislation is a large chapter of European legislation that has specific rules for particular foods.

The most important European regulation on food labelling is 2011 Regulation No. 1169 “EUR-Lex – 32011R1169 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu)” , to which must be added a number of specific regulations such as those on special foods such as food supplements, foods with added vitamins, minerals and other ingredients “EUR-Lex – 32006R1925 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu)”, foods intended for infants and young children, foods for special medical purposes and substitutes for the whole daily ration for weight contro “EUR-Lex – 32013R0609 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu)”.

In addition to the previous regulations, there are also those concerning food additives and the indication of the country of origin. There are also voluntary ones such as the labelling of organic products or those on additional nutrition claims such as the French Nutriscore traffic light label and the Italian Nutrinform battery.

A recently adopted regulation is the one that from 1 January 2023 requires mandatory environmental labelling of packaging defined in the CONAI guidelines per l’Italia che potete trovare sul sito del MISE (Ministero dello sviluppo economico).

Another big chapter in food labelling is that on CLAIM the phrases indicating that a product has certain particular or specific nutritional qualities.

Mandatory information to be included on the label

The main mandatory information to be included on the label is as follows:

• the name of the food;
• the list of ingredients;
• any ingredient or processing aid listed in Annex II or derived from a substance or product listed in that Annex causing allergies or intolerances used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and still present in the finished product, even if in altered form;
• the quantity of certain ingredients or categories of ingredients;
• the net quantity of the food;
• the date of minimum durability or use-by date;
• the special storage conditions and/or conditions of use;
• the name or business name and address of the food business operator referred to in Article 8(1);
• the country of origin or place of provenance where provided for in Article 26;
• the instructions for use where their omission would make appropriate use of the food difficult;
• in the case of beverages containing more than 1,2 % alcohol by volume, the actual alcoholic strength by volume;
• a nutrition declaration.

Food labelling advice service

If you would like to use my consultancy service on food labelling including special foods and specific regulations, please contact me via the form on this page, or write to me at info(@)angilericonsulting.com.