1. Food labelling and advertising:
Practical implications of current
developments
Gillian Harkess, Associate
14 September 2012

2. Current Developments
During this seminar we will consider:
• EU Food Information Regulation – update on
implementation by food businesses and the
European Commission
• UK Department of Health push to agree a UK
front-of-pack nutrition labelling format
• The Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation –
outstanding health claim applications, additional
permitted nutrition claims, the latest on nutrient
profiles

3. EU Food Information Regulation
• The Food Information for Consumers Regulation
(FIR) follows an EU-wide review of food and
nutrition labelling legislation
• FIR brings EU rules on general and nutrition
labelling together into a single regulation
• Single Europe-wide regulation rather than state-
by-state implementation
• Transitional arrangements mean that most
requirements do not apply until 2014 and new
nutrition labelling rules will become mandatory
in 2016.

4. The Food Information Regulation
What is changing?
• Minimum font size for • Extension of rules for
mandatory origin of food labelling
information
• Food authenticity
• Nutrition labelling
• Distance selling
• Mandatory
information on • Alcohol
allergens

5. Requirements for mandatory
information
What is mandatory information? Article 9
• The name of the food
• The list of ingredients (extended)
• Allergens / intolerances from a prescribed
list (eg wheat, eggs, mustard, milk etc).
• Quantity of certain ingredients
• The net quantity of the food
• Date of minimum durability or use by date
• Any special storage conditions / conditions
of use

6. Requirements for mandatory
information
Mandatory information cont …
• Name / business name and address of the food
business operator
• Country of origin / provenance
• Instructions for use
• The actual alcoholic strength by volume
(beverages containing more than 1.2%)
• A nutrition declaration

7. Requirements for mandatory
information
Article 13
• Mandatory food information must be:
– marked in a conspicuous place
– easily visible, clearly legible
– cannot be hidden, obscured, detracted from or
interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter or
any other intervening material
• Same field of vision now required for
– name and description
– net quantity
– alcoholic content
– NOT now required for „best before‟ or „use by‟ date or
signpost

8. Requirements for mandatory
information
Presentation - minimum font size
• Standard rule - any lower case characters must be equal to
or greater than 1.2mm
• Largest surface area is less than 80 cm squared the
minimum lower case height must be equal to or greater
than 0.9mm
• Exemptions
– glass bottles
– small items (largest surface area is less than 10 cm
squared – only name, allergens, net quantity and use
by date need appear. What about the remaining
information?)

9. New information to be given with the name of the
food
• Existing requirements remain
– eg “with sweetener”, “irradiated”
• New requirements
– “defrosted” – if has been frozen at some prior stage, unless
• freezing a technologically necessary step in production
• defrosting has no negative impact on safety or quality
• only an ingredient
– a substituted ingredient, „where consumers expect an ingredient to be
used‟
• clear indication of the substituted ingredient in print at least 75% of
font size of name
– products that look like pieces of meat if >5% added water: “contains
added water” or similar
– meat and fish products made from pieces which look like single
items: “formed meat”, “aus Fleischstueken zusammengefuegt” etc.
– Caffeine
• beverages other than tea or coffee with >150 mg/l “High caffeine
content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding
women. Caffeine [ ] mg per 100ml”
• non-beverages to which caffeine added for physiological purposes
“Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children or pregnant
women. Caffeine [ ] mg per 100 g/ml”

10. Mandatory nutrition labelling
Requirements
• „Back of pack' information will become mandatory on
the majority of prepacked foods.
• The nutrition declaration will include:
– energy value and
– the amount of fat, saturates, carbohydrate,
sugars, protein and salt
• Per 100g/ml, but options to add (or sometimes
substitute) per portion
• Information to be presented in tabular format where
possible
• Exemptions

11. Nutrition labelling
• It will be possible to voluntarily repeat on „front of pack‟
information on nutrients of importance to public health:
– energy
– energy, fat, saturates, sugar and salt
• It will also be possible to provide voluntary nutrition information
in the 'front of pack' format on food sold loose (eg on deli
counters) and in catering establishments.
• There remains scope for businesses to use Guideline Daily
Amounts (GDAs) based on reference intakes specified in the
regulations and (subject to certain conditions) additional forms of
expression and presentation.

12. Mandatory country of origin / place of
provenance labelling
Requirements
• Mandatory if failure to indicate would mislead
• Extension of the rules for origin of food labelling
– fresh, chilled or frozen meat from pigs, sheep, goat and
poultry
• If the country of origin of primary ingredient differs then:
– country of origin of the primary ingredient shall also be given
or
– country of origin shall be indicated as being different to that
of the food
• Implementing rules to be produced within two years of the
Regulation‟s entry into force.

13. Mandatory country of origin/ place of
provenance labelling
Possible future changes
• Country of origin labelling could be extended in
the future (eg to milk, milk used as an ingredient
in dairy products, unprocessed foods, other
meats)
• Commission to complete
an impact assessment

14. Mandatory allergen information
Requirements
• Allergens
– includes any ingredient or processing aid
specifically listed in the Regulation (eg wheat,
eggs, fish, milk etc)
– the typeset should clearly distinguish the
wording and be set out in the list of
ingredients
– not required where the name of the food
clearly refers to the substance or product
concerned

15. Food authenticity
Requirements
• Food authenticity:
– Ban on saying a product does not contain an
ingredient if that kind of product never does –
eg fat in wine gums
– Ingredient substitution
made clear on packaging
– Added water and protein
made clear on meat and
fish products

16. Timetable for Implementation
• The labelling requirements will come into effect in
2014
• The obligations for nutrition labelling will not apply
until 2016
• When will EU and/or national authorities give
guidance?
• Implementing legislation in UK
• Impact on all labels in the end, but in particular
consider
– labelling redesign and product relaunch projects
– new product development

17. Issues
• Supply of raw materials change regularly
• Cost and practicality of changing labelling and
packaging
• Restrictions on trade
• Food costs increase as flexibility diminishes?
• Increased bureaucracy for business?
• Are consumers benefiting?
• Difficult to enforce

18. Consultation on Front of Pack nutrition
labelling
• Government‟s 12 week consultation on Front of Pack nutrition
labelling ended in August 2012.
• The ultimate aim of the consultation was to seek views on how to
bring more consistency and clarity to the FoP information
presented across the UK
• The consultation looked at how:
– to maintain and extend the use of front of pack labelling
across the widest possible range of food and drink products
– to achieve the greatest possible consistency in the content
and presentation of front of pack nutrition labelling, in a form
which is clearest and most useful to consumers

19. The Department of Health push to
agree a UK FOP nutrition labelling
format
• Strong evidence on value put forward
• Consistency message pushed during consultation

20. Additional Forms of Expression (AFE)
• Possible to express the nutrition information in different ways to
just words and numbers.
• Must satisfy a number of requirements, such as:
– they are based on sound and scientifically valid consumer
research
– their development is the result of consultation with a wide
range of stakeholders
– they aim to facilitate consumer understanding
• Government able to recommend one or more AFE
• Member States must monitor the use of AFE in their territory and
report these to the Commission
• The Commission will write a report, with the potential for future
harmonisation of AFE across the EU, by end 2017

21. Nutrition labelling issues
• As sold or as consumed
• Energy or energy + 4
• Per 100g or per portion ( portion size)
• GDAs?
• AFEs?
• Position on pack
• Logos and Europe
• FIR and „pings‟.

22. Client experience
• Experience in the field
• Article 30
• Nothing that says that the FOP must be a repeat
of the method of expression used on the back

23. Next steps
• What to look out for in the up coming months...
• Consultation summary published
• Government announces next steps

24. Nutrition and Health claims
• In December 2006 EU decision makers adopted Regulation
1924/2006
• It provides harmonised EU-wide rules for the use of health
or nutritional claims on foodstuffs based on nutrient
profiles.
• Nutrient profiles are nutritional requirements that foods
must meet in order to bear nutrition and health claims.
• One of the key objectives of the Regulation is to ensure
that any claim made on a food label in the EU is clear and
substantiated by scientific evidence.

25. The role of the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA)
• EFSA is responsible for verifying the scientific
substantiation of the submitted claims, some of which are
currently in use, some of which are proposed by applicants
– companies who want to submit claims for authorisation
in the EU. This information serves as a basis for the
European Commission and Member States, which will then
decide whether to authorise the claims.
• EFSA has prepared guidance on how to submit claims
applications, following an extensive consultation process
with industry and other interested parties

26. Nutrition v health claims
• An increasing number of foods sold in the EU bear nutrition
and health claims.
• A nutrition claim states or suggests that a food has
beneficial nutritional properties, such as “low fat”, “no
added sugar” and “high in fibre”.
• A health claim is any statement on labels, advertising or
other marketing products that health benefits can result
from consuming a given food, for instance that a food can
help reinforce the body‟s natural defences or enhance
learning ability.

27. EFSA list of approved health claims
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012
– Deals with the applications made for the
“generic list”
– with the exception of botanicals and few
outstanding applications
• 3 claims lists were adopted on the EU register:
1. Permitted nutrition claims
2. Authorised Health Claims
3. Non Authorised Health Claims

28. EU reaches a botanical health claims
cross roads
• Botanical health claims – what are they?
• The food/medicine borderline
• “Traditional use” and surrounding issues

29. Discussion paper on botanicals
used in foods
• Commission sought Member States‟ views in
August 2012
• Working group meeting to be held in September
(date unconfirmed)

30. The consultation process

31. What you need to know
• 6 month transition period
• ALL stock on the shelf must comply by the 14th
December 2012?
• UK Department of Health is expected to issue
guidance

32. Trends in the field
• Leading retailers already refusing to accept non
compliant stock.
• Retailers passing liability to manufacturers if
they provide stock not compliant with the claims
after August 2012

33. Looking ahead
• Anticipate future changes to the approved claims
• Certain claims require further assessment
• Claims that refer to a botanical substance
• 6 month transition period likely to apply to any
further changes

34. Any Questions?