Nutrition labelling regulations

Before you start reading this, it’s worth noting that one of the foods that are exempt from the new mandatory nutrition labelling is “food, including handcrafted food, directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer”.

So if you are only producing pre-packed foods in small quantities and selling them to the end consumer, you don’t need to worry about these regulations. For those producing larger quantities, please read on…

What do you need to include in nutrition labelling?

On your pre-packed food labelling you must now provide nutrient information per 100g or 100ml. You’ll need to list these nutrients in this order:

Energy (kJ, kcal)
Fat (g)
Of which saturates
Carbohydrate (g)
Of which sugars (g)
Protein (g)
Salt (g)

If any of those nutrients aren’t present or are only present in negligible amounts you can mention them in a separate sentence (e.g. Fat, Saturates, Protein – negligible amount).

You must use a font sized at least 1.2mm, x-height and present the nutritional information in a table with numbers aligned (though you can use a linear format if you don’t have enough space for a table).

Declaring vitamins and minerals

You will need to declare vitamins per 100ml as well as the percentage of Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) per 100ml.

You can also provide the information per portion if you’d like.

And in case you’re wondering about Recommended Daily Amounts (RDAs), the term has now been replaced with Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs).

NRVs are the recommended daily quantity of a nutrient an average person needs to remain healthy.

Guideline Daily Amounts have gone!

The term ‘Reference Intakes’ (RIs) has now replaced GDAs. You can add %RIs to your labelling in the nutrition table per 100g/ml and/or per portion or consumption unit. Wherever you have listed %RIs, you’ll need to place this statement close by too: “Reference intake of an average adult (8400kJ/2000kcal)”.

If you are providing nutritional information per portion or per consumption unit, you’ll need to quantify the portions/consumption units near to nutrition declaration. Here’s an example of quantifying: 1.5L = 6 x 250ml servings.

Foods that are exempt from mandatory nutrition declaration

Unprocessed products that comprise a single ingredient
Processed products that have only been subjected to maturing and which comprise a single ingredient
Waters intended for human consumption (including flavoured and carbonated waters)
A herb, a spice or a mixture of the two
Salt and salt substitutes
Table top sweeteners
Products covered by Directive 1999/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 February 1999 relating to coffee extracts and chicory extracts (1), whole or milled coffee beans and whole or milled decaffeinated coffee beans
Food in packaging or containers whose largest surface area is less than 25cm2

Teas which do not contain added ingredients other than flavourings which don’t modify the nutritional value of the tea
Fermented vinegars and vinegar substitutes
Flavourings
Food additives
Processing aids
Food enzymes
Gelatine
Jam setting compounds
Yeast
Chewing gums
Food, including handcrafted food, directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer