Transcript
What's in a label?
What you will be learning today
•You will learn about labelling within the food industry.
•You will learn about the legal information present on food products.
•You will learn about the voluntary information present on food products.
Introduction
• Information is provided on food packaging of to help us choose between different foods, brands and flavours.
• Food labelling is regulated under the Food Safety Act 1990, where the responsibility of the food industry is to ensure that food is labelled, advertised and presented in a way that is not false of misleading.
What’s on a label? - Legally required labelling
Name of foodIngredients
Net values -
Weight / Volume Date-mark
Place of origin
Storage / Preparation instructions
Name and address
Additives
Special claimsProcessing treatments.
Name of foodThe name of the food must be clearly stated. Some foods have made-up names, which give no information about what is in them or how they have been processed. In such cases, a description of the food must be given so that it is neither ambiguous nor misleading.
The name must also describe the differences between apparently similar products. For example, a ‘fruit yogurt’ must be flavoured using real fruit, whereas a ‘fruit flavoured yogurt’ can be flavoured using artificial flavourings.
Ingredients
• Ingredients are listed in order of weight, starting with the largest ingredient and ending with the smallest.
• All components, including water and food additives, must be included in the list if they have been added.
Additives• These are usually named and
also include E numbers.
• There is an increasing demand for food without them as some can cause allergic and intolerant reactions.
• Clean labels – food containing few E numbers
Storage/Preparation Instructions
• When necessary, instructions on how to prepare and cook the food must be given on the label. If the food has to be heated, the temperature of the oven and the cooking time should usually be stated. Instructions may also be given for heating in a microwave oven.
• Information must be provided on how long a product is likely to last once it has been bought and/or opened, and under what conditions it needs to be kept to ensure its freshness.
•Time and temperature control guidelines to help the consumer
Weight or volume
• The net weight and volume of most pre-packed food.
•If food is not sold pre-packed, the quantity of volume must be shown.
•This allows customers to compare the weight with the price of different brands enables consumers to make choices on value for money between brands.
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What does net mean?
Name and address
• The name and address of the manufacturer, packer or seller must be stated on the label.
• This gives consumers the opportunity to contact the manufacturer if they have a complaint about the product or if they wish to know more about it.
Place of origin
• Explains where the food is from.
•The label must display clearly where the food has come from if it would be misleading not to show it, e.g. a tub of Greek yogurt which was made in France.
Special claims
• These inform the consumer about the suitability of the food product for people with intolerances and allergies.
• Any specific nutritional claims must be supported with evidence to justify the claim.
Processing treatments
• The name of the food must include and indication of its physical condition or treatment, such as:
UHT milk, smoked fish, unpasteurised cheese, frozen vegetables
Date mark • Foods that spoil quickly, such as cooked meat and fish, have a use by date. If kept for too long these foods can cause food poisoning even though they may not taste any different.
• Other foods have a best before date, after which foods may not be at their best, with regard to flavour, colour and texture, even though they will probably be safe to eat if they have been stored according to the instructions on the labels.
In addition to the information that is legally required, the following may also be found on a food label.
Display until – Sell by date
• It’s used by the food manufacturer to inform stock rotation as a critical control point.
• Food manufacturers will remove the product from the shelves / chill cabinet / freezer when this date is reached.
• The date is usually a few days before the used by date
Nutrition information• Manufacturers are not obliged by law to provide nutrition information, unless they make a nutrition claim. For those that do provide nutrition information, they must provide:
* The energy value in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal);
* The amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat in grams (g).
• Unless a claim is made, the amounts of sugars, saturates, fibre and sodium can also be optionally provided.
• Information must always be given as values per 100g or per 100ml of food. Values for a portion or serving can be given as well, provided that the number or size of portions/servings is given.
Nutrition information
In the UK, some pre-packaged foods also provide information about guideline daily amounts (GDAs).
GDAs are derived from the Estimated Average Requirements for energy for men and women aged between 19-50, of normal weight and fitness (2500kcal and 2000kcal respectively).
GDAs are intended as guidance to help consumers in their understanding of their recommended daily consumption of energy (calories), fat and saturates and a base against which the content of individual foods can be compared.
Further information
• Serving instructions
• Disposal of packaging
• Special diets
• Opening instructions
• Barcodes
• Advertising and marketing.
What do these symbols mean?
Which are legally required and which are voluntary information?
Name of foodIngredients
Net values -
Weight / Volume Date-mark
Place of origin
Nutrition information
Storage / Preparation instructions
Name and address
Additives
Special claimsProcessing treatments.
Display until or sell by date.
Further information
Label and annotate this label – explain what is legally required and what is optional
Homework
• Investigate the labelling schemes used by some manufacturers to promote healthy eating.
• Investigate and explain how sustainability information is conveyed to the consumer through food labels, give examples.
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