Labels on pre-packaged food and drinks are changing due to a new European Regulation[1]. This new piece of legislation is designed to make food labelling easier for people to use.
It will take time to change all of the labels on every food and drink package,
and so for a while both the old and the new labels will be in the shops. Labels
have already started to change and nearly all of them will have changed by 13
December 2014.
Food labelling is a useful tool which informs people about their food
choices.
Although this legislation will result in changes to the labels of nearly every
food and drink product on sale in Europe, people need not be intimidated or put
off by these changes. With this guide we aim to de-mystify some of the changes
that have been introduced under this legislation; in doing so we hope to equip
healthcare professionals with information to help their patients adapt to the
new
food labels and use them with confidence.
Further resources
- NHS Choices ‘livewell’ pages providing wide ranging consumer facing information including on healthy diets,
fitness and losing weight. - Government advice on healthy eating and the Eatwell plate.
- British Nutrition Foundation advice pages on all aspects of nutrition including healthy eating tips.
- Food Standards Agency leaflet ‘Buying food when you have a food allergy or food intolerance’.
- FDF’s Workplace Wellbeing toolkit offering employers tips and guidance to enhance their workplace health
programmes. - The list of authorised nutrition and health claims can be found within the EU register.
- Department of Health Front of Pack nutrition labelling guidance on creating a front of pack label provides advice
aimed at food businesses, which includes the detailed nutrition criteria
underpinning the red,
amber and green colour coding. - British Retail Consortium guidance on communicating nutrition labelling changes to
consumers, aimed at food businesses.
Notes
1. The regulation’s full name is the ‘EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the
provision
of food information to consumers’
Barbara Gallani, Director of Regulation, Science & Health at the Food and Drink Federation
“With this guide we aim to
de-mystify some of the changes that have been introduced under this new
European
Regulation; in doing so we hope to equip healthcare professionals with
information to help their patients adapt to the new food labels and use them
with
confidence.”
Barbara Gallani,
Director of Regulation, Science and Health at the Food and Drink Federation