Nutrition labelling – back or side of pack information

Within the new EU regulations it will be mandatory for food and drink manufacturers to provide nutrition information on almost all food and drink [10]; this is usually found on the back of product packaging (and sometimes the side).

Nutrients will be required to be listed in a certain order – energy (both in kilojoules and kilocalories) and the amounts (in grams) of fat, saturates, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt (in place of ‘sodium’ which is no longer permitted). This will usually be found in the form of a table – see an example below.

An example label
Typical values	Per 100 grams	Per half a pizza	%RI per half pizza
Energy	1205 kJ	1865kJ	22%
	290 kcal	445 kcal	22%
Fat	11.8g	18.3g	26%
Saturates	5.4g	8.3g	42%
Carbohydrate	29.4g	45.5g	18%
Sugars	3.8g	5.9g	7%
Protein	14.2g	21.9g	44%
Salt	1.9g	2.9g	48%

This information has to be given per 100g/ml of the food or drink but can additionally be given:

Per portion or per consumption unit (e.g. per slice)
As a % of Reference Intakes (formerly known as Guideline Daily Amounts)

Information on the following nutrients can be provided in a voluntary basis: mono and poly-unsaturated fats, polyols, starch and fibre. Information on certain vitamins and minerals can be given if listed on an approved list and present in significant amounts[11].

If claims are made as to the nutritional content or health of the product it becomes mandatory to give information about that nutrient in addition to the mandatory ones mentioned above. For example, if the claim ‘high in omega 3’ was made then the amount of omega 3 per 100g would have to be shown.

Last reviewed: 22 Jul 2016