New Nutrition Labelling Requirements in Europe
Dr Josephine Wills, Director General of the European Food Information Council (EUFIC)
By the end of 2011 the European Union's new Food Information for Consumers Regulation, which will change the way that nutrition information is provided on food labels across Europe, will finally come into force after 8 years of negotiation. Once legal, the changes required by the regulation will start to take effect over the next 3-5 years.
So what does this new nutrition legislation say?
Nutrition Information
In Europe, we will now have mandatory nutrition labelling, instead of voluntary. Food manufacturers will have to provide information on 7 nutrients; energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt – in that order. The information must be in the same field of vision on the back-of-pack, and expressed per 100g/ml of product. Manufacturers may also provide information per portion if they choose to do so. Any additional nutrients, such as monounsaturates, polyunsaturates, starch, fibre or vitamins and minerals, can be labelled on a voluntary basis.
Nutrition labelling on the front-of-pack will be voluntary. However when it is provided it must follow the regulation which allows repetition of information on energy alone (per 100g/ml with), OR energy (per 100g/ml and per portion) plus fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt (per 100g/ml with per portion information on a voluntary basis OR per portion alone). Energy must continue to be expressed in kj, and not just the more commonly understood kcals (there are 4.2kj in each kcal). This could mean that 4 figures are given for energy on the front of pack: kj and kcal per 100g, and also the same per portion (which could be confusing to consumers). When a portion or unit (e.g. amount per biscuit) declaration is made, the portion/unit size must be given on the label and also the number of portions or units contained in the package must be stated.
Guideline Daily Amounts
Display of GDA's (Guideline Daily Amounts) will be voluntary. They can be expressed per portion alone in the mandatory nutrition declaration, or as part of the voluntary Front-of-Pack labelling. GDAs must be accompanied by a statement "Reference intake of an average adult (8400kj/2000 kcal)".
Legibility
For most food packaging a minimum print size for labelling of 1.2mm is required for all mandatory food information. Smaller packs have a smaller minimum font size, and for the smallest packs (largest surface area less than 10 cm2) only the name of the food, possible allergens, net quantity and the date of minimum durability is required. Front-of-pack labels, if provided, must also comply with the minimum print size requirement.
When will we see the new labels?
Many food companies in the UK already provide voluntary nutrition information on packaging and so the new legislation will simply require modifications to information already on labels. However all companies (large or small) across Europe must comply with the regulation within 3 years from the date of its adoption (if they already provide nutrition information) which in practice means by early 2015 or within 5 years (2017) if they have never previously provided nutrition information on their labels.
So soon we will have mandatory nutrition labelling on all food and drink packages, however one of the biggest challenges is "do consumers use nutrition information on food and drink labels, to make healthier choices?" In self-reported consumer studies, respondents invariably show a high intention to use front-of-pack information. But in observational studies (usually in a supermarket setting, or an experimental supermarket setting where the subject does not know what the study is about) actual use of nutrition information is low. Taste and price are still much stronger factors influencing food choice. Product sales data following the introduction of front-of-pack nutrition labelling would hopefully show that sales of nutritionally better products increased relative to the others in the same food category. Whilst this has been reported by supermarkets introducing either traffic lights or GDAs in the UK, the data have not been published in a scientific journal. More recent academic analysis of sales data have not shown a shift to nutritionally better products [1, 2].
In an experimental setting, the majority of consumers can use nutrition labelling information to compare 2 or 3 products, to identify the nutritionally better product – and this result does not appear to depend on the nutrition labelling system [3, 4]. However this does not appear to translate for most people into buying nutritionally healthier choices. These results were also echoed in the EU-funded project FLABEL (Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life) [5].
Our biggest challenge for public health is to promote and generate an interest in healthy eating in consumers – including stimulating them to look for and use the nutrition information on labels. Provision of consistent information across all foods will help consumers to identify and use nutrition information. However the ultimate goal is now finding the key to motivate consumers to use nutrition labelling while shopping to make consistently healthier choices.
References
1. Sacks G et al. Impact of front-of-pack 'traffic light' nutrition labelling on consumer food purchases in the UK. Health Promotion International 2009 24 (4) 344 - 352
2. Sacks G et al. Impact of 'traffic light' nutrition information on online food purchases in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2011 35 (2) 122-126
3. Grunert KG et al. Nutrition knowledge, and use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels in the UK. Appetite 2010 55(2):177-189
4. Grunert KG et al. Use and understanding of nutrition information on food labels in six European countries. Journal of Public Health 2010 18(3):261-277
5. FLABEL - Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life - receives research funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (Contract n° 211905). See www.flabel.org
Dr Josephine Wills is the Director General of the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Brussels. EUFIC is a non-profit organisation which provides science-based information on food safety & quality and health & nutrition to the media, health and nutrition professionals and educators, in order to promote increased consumer understanding of these issues.
Note to Readers: Any opinions expressed above are those of the author and may not reflect the views of The Sugar Bureau.
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