By Martin Banks - 23rd November 2011
The new food labelling regulation means inevitable changes for companies”
Xavier Lavigne
Food companies across Europe have been given five years to implement new mandatory nutrition labelling rules, it has been announced.
It follows the recent adoption of the long-awaited European food information regulation.
The regulation requires a mandatory declaration on the label of the so-called ‘Big 7’ – energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt – by 13 December 2016.
The food industry now faces arguably its biggest change to food labelling rules in a generation.
One key element of the change involves nutrition labelling of pre-packed foods, with the requirement for a 'mandatory nutrition declaration', comprising energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrates, protein, sugars and salt to be indicated in the same field of vision per 100g/ml.
Other important changes involve the extension of compulsory country of origin labelling to fresh meat of pork, lamb and poultry and the extension of mandatory allergen labelling to foods sold loose.
The issue of clarity is addressed by the new laws with the introduction of a minimum font size for all mandatory information
Speaking on Wednesday, Xavier Lavigne, food law manager at European Advisory Services, said that the "clock now starts ticking" on meeting the five-year deadline for nutrition labelling requirements.
While most aspects of the regulation become applicable on 13 December 2014, companies have been given an extended transition period until 13 December 2016 to get in line with nutrition labelling requirements.
"The new food labelling regulation means inevitable changes for companies," said Lavigne.
"The costs of conforming to the mandatory nutrient content rules will most likely hit the smaller food companies more than the larger ones, as many of the larger companies already have some type of nutrition labelling which will simply need to be adapted."
"However, for those companies wanting to voluntarily label their products with nutrition information any time between 13 December 2014 when the regulation becomes applicable and 13 December 2016 when the transition period for nutrition labelling ends.
"They will have to comply with the regulations for nutrition declaration, regardless of the given transition period," he said.
