Learn about Compliant Nutrition Labeling

Learn about Compliant Nutrition Labeling

If you’re looking to create your own nutritional labels here’s a brief overview of what you need to cover.

Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 covers all food information made available to the final consumer by means of a nutrition label, other accompanying material or other means including modern technology tools or verbal communication e.g. websites, advertising, promotions.

The Regulation came into effect on 13th December 2011. It will apply from 13th December 2014, with the exception of mandatory nutrition declaration which will apply from 13th December 2016.

List of mandatory requirements

• Name of the food*
• List of ingredients
• Allergens
• Quantity of certain ingredients
• Net quantity*
• Date of minimum durability
• Special storage conditions and/or conditions of use
• Name and address of seller in the EU
• Country of origin or place of provenance where provided for in Article 26
• Instructions for use where necessary
• Alcoholic strength*
• Nutrition declaration

All mandatory information above needs to meet the requirements for font size and must be given priority over voluntary information.

• “x height” of 1.2mm (Times New Roman, 8 font).
• Exemption for smaller packs where largest surface area < 80cm2 “X height” of 0.9mm (Times New Roman, 6 font).

How should the 14 allergenic ingredients be presented on prepackaged food

When listing the allergenic ingredients on a food product label they must be listed in bold or highlighted.

Voluntary Nutritional Label Information

You can choose to use front of pack nutritional labeling in addition to the mandatory information. This can be in one of two formats, Energy value only or Energy, Fat, Saturates,
Sugar, Salt. Reference Intake of an average adult must be displayed also.

Traffic Light Label Colours:

Only the lozenges containing the information on fat, saturates, sugars and salt will be coloured.
The colours used should be vibrant. The use of pastel colours should be avoided.
The colours and process used to colour the lozenges will depend on the type of packaging material and other colours used on pack.
When establishing the colours to be used, strong consideration must be given to the clarity and legibility of the information given. This will be determined by good contrast between the colours and the text.
The shade, tone and intensity of the colours (Pantone or CMYK) that companies should aim to produce through their colour processes are:

Green: PMS 375, or C: 48% M: 0% Y: 94% K: 0% Amber: PMS 143, or C: 0% M: 36% Y: 87% K: 0% Red: Red 032, or C: 0% M: 90% Y: 86% K: 0%

A block of colour will be included in the lozenge. At least one third of the lozenge should be coloured.
It is not acceptable to just use colour to surround the lozenge or to only colour the words or numbers.

Location on pack

The information will always be provided in the principal field of vision, as required by EU FIC. The Regulation defines ‘principal field of vision’ as: the field of vision of a package which is most likely to be seen at first glance by the consumer at the time of purchase and that enables the consumer to immediately identify a product in terms of its character or nature and, if applicable, its brand name. If a package has several identical principal fields of vision, the principal field of vision is the one chosen by the food business operator.

Useful Resources Technical Guidance On Nutritional Labeling – Read More Here Front of Pack Nutritional Labeling Guidance – Read More Here