Food Information To Be Provided - Section 4, List of Ingredients

Section 4, List of Ingredients

Exceptions to this are water and other volatile In this chapter, you will learn: products used to manufacture the food, such ` What is the list of ingredients? as alcohol. These are indicated in the list of ingredients according to their weight in the ` What is the order of listing ingredients? finished product. ` How are ingredients, food improvement agents and nutritional If the finished product contains at most 5% additives indicated in the list of added water or volatile products, they do not ingredients? need to be indicated in the list of ingredients. ` How are substances that cause allergies However, this exception does not apply to or intolerances indicated? meat, meat preparations, unprocessed fishery products and unprocessed bivalve molluscs. ` When must the amount of an ingredient be indicated, and how is this There are no specific formal requirements for done? the list of ingredients in non-prepacked foods. What is essential is that the information provided to consumers is correct and In this section, you will learn how to write the verifiable. list of ingredients. The list of ingredients tells what ingredients have been used to produce For further information, see sections 6.2.9 and the food. The list of ingredients must be 7.1 of the Food Information Guide for Food headed. The header should include the word Supervisors and Food Operators (in Finnish “ingredients”. and Swedish).

After this section, you will know how to Ingredients to be included indicate the ingredients contained in non- The list of ingredients must include prepacked and prepacked foods, substances ■ ingredients (such as water, wheat flour, that cause allergies or intolerances, food sugar, eggs), improvement agents (such as additives) and ■ food improvement agents (such as vitamins and minerals. preservatives (sorbate), strawberry flavor) and Order of listed ingredients ■ nutritional supplements (such as vitamin The ingredients of prepacked foods are listed D, calcium) in descending order of weight according to the food’s recipe.

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For further information, see section 6.2.1 distinguishes them from the rest of the list of of the Food Information Guide for Food ingredients, for example by means of the font, Supervisors and Food Operators (in Finnish style or background colour. and Swedish). The ingredient causing an allergy or Substances and products that cause intolerance does not need to be emphasised allergies or intolerances in the list if it is mentioned in the name of the The following substances and products are food, such as in milk powder. listed in annex II of the food information regulation as causing allergies or intolerances, If the ingredient is commonly associated and must be indicated for both prepacked and with a specific origin, such as cheese, butter non-prepacked foods: and yogurt with milk, it is sufficient that these words are emphasised in the list of ■ Cereals containing gluten, namely wheat, ingredients. rye, barley, oats and products made of these cereals Additives that cause allergies or intolerances ■ Crustaceans and products thereof must always be indicated using its own name ■ Eggs and products thereof and not simply its E number, such as soy ■ Fish and products thereof lecithin instead of E 322. ■ Peanuts and products thereof ■ Soy beans and products thereof Below is an example of the list of ingredients for buns: ■ Milk and products thereof (including lactose) Wheat flour,milk , sugar, rapeseed oil, egg, ■ Nut and products thereof yeast, salt, emulsifier soy( lecithin) ■ Celery and products thereof ■ Mustard and products thereof Ingredients that can cause allergies or ■ Sesame seeds and products thereof intolerances must also be indicated for non- prepacked foods. ■ Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or The information may be given in writing 10 mg/litre in terms of the total sulphur or verbally. If the information is given in dioxide. The concentrations are calculated writing, the ingredients do not need to be for products as proposed ready for emphasised. If given verbally, consumers must consumption or as reconstituted according be clearly informed that the information to the producer’s instructions. is available upon request. ■ Lupin and products thereof ■ Molluscs and products thereof Contamination with substances that cause allergies or intolerances How are these indicated in the list of In some cases, foods may be contaminated, ingredients? through contact with hands or tools, with ingredients causing allergies or intolerances In prepacked foods, substances and that are not part of the recipe. products that cause allergies or intolerances are emphasised by a typeset that clearly

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When all possible measures have been taken Exception: The specific name or E number to remove the risk of contamination but a does not need to be indicated for additives warning label is still deemed to be necessary that belong to the category “modified starch”. for risk management, it is recommended that the packaging includes a separate label: The names and identifiers (E numbers) of food additives are listed in the Regulation (EC) “May contain traces of xxxx”. No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives. Indicate the substance that can cause allergy or intolerance as accurately as possible using The regulation also specifies what additives its specific name. In the case of nuts, for can be used in certain foods. example, indicate the type of nut in question as people may be allergic to different nuts. The names of food additive categories are listed in part C of annex VII to the food For example, “May contain traces of hazelnut” information regulation.

For further information, see sections 6.2.4 and If an additive belongs to more than one 7.1 of the Food Information Guide for Food category, it is named according to its principal Supervisors and Food Operators (in Finnish function in the food. and Swedish). For example, ascorbic acid (E 300) may belong Food improvement agents to one of three categories of additives based Food improvement agents refer to additives, on its intended purpose: aromas and enzymes. ■ antioxidant (E 300) or ■ acidity regulator (E 300) or Next, you will learn how these should be ■ flour treatment agent (E 300) indicated in the list of ingredients. Additives that cause allergies and Indicating food additives intolerances Additives are used in food for specific Food additives that cause allergies and technical purposes, such as to increase its intolerances must be indicated using their shelf life or improve its colour and structure. specific names instead of only the category The types and amounts of additives that may name and E number. For example, soy-based be used in foods are specified in law. lecithin must be indicated as emulsifier (soy lecithin), not simply as emulsifier (E 322). Food additives are indicated by the name of the category that describes their function Packaging gases (such as preservative, acidity regulator, Packaging gases are classified as food sweetener), followed by the specific name or additives, but do not need to be indicated in E number of the additive. the list of ingredients as they are not present in the finished product. However, food For example: that is packed using packaging gases must acidity regulator (ascorbic acid) OR include the label “packaged in a protective acidity regulator (E300) atmosphere”.

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Food colours Indicating food flavourings The use of certain food colours requires Food flavourings are substances that are not a warning to be included in the label that typically consumed as actual food. They are states the name or E number of the colour(s), added in foods to give or change a scent or followed by “may have an adverse effect on flavour. The use of food flavourings must meet activity and attention in children”. the requirements of EU law. Flavourings are indicated in the list of ingredients with the Colours that require a warning: words “flavouring” or by the specific name of ■ Sunset yellow (E 110), the flavouring, such as ammonium chloride, or ■ Quinoline yellow (E 104), a detailed description of the flavouring, such as strawberry flavouring, natural flavouring or ■ Carmoisine (E 122), natural strawberry flavouring. ■ Allura red (E 129), There are specific requirements on the use ■ Tartrazine (E 102) and of the term ‘natural’ to describe a flavouring, ■ Ponceau 4R (E 124). which are explained in article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 of the European Sweeteners Parliament and of the Council. The same Foods containing a sweetener (such as regulation also sets out rules on the use of aspartame and acesulfame K) must include flavourings in food. the label “with sweetener”. Quinine and caffeine used in the production of Foods containing sugar and sweetener must food must always be indicated by their specific include the label “with sugar and sweetener”. names immediately after the term ‘flavouring’, such as in flavouring (caffeine). If the food contains more than one sweetener The use of smoke flavouring indicated by the and sugar, the plural forms are used, as in name “smoke flavouring(s)” or with a detailed “with sugars and sweeteners”. description, such as in “smoke flavouring produced from beech”. Smoke flavourings Foods containing aspartame or aspartame- permitted for use in foods are listed in acesulfame salt must include the warning Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No label: 1321/2013. “contains aspartame (source of phenylalanine)”, if the aspartame or Indicating food enzymes aspartame-acesulfame salt is indicated in the Enzymes are proteins that may trigger a list of ingredients by its E number. certain biochemical reaction. For example, the OR enzyme lactase breaks down lactose in milk “contains a source of phenylalanine”, if the in order to make the product more suitable to aspartame or aspartame-acesulfame salt people with lactose intolerance. is indicated in the list of ingredients by its specific name. The use of food enzymes must meet the Foods with more than 10% added polyols or requirements of EU law. sugar alcohols (such as xylitol and sorbitol) must included the warning label: “excessive Enzymes are indicated in the list of ingredients consumption may induce laxative effects”. by their specific names if they are used as

17 Food Information To Be Provided - Section 4, List of Ingredients additives. Enzymes used as food processing Please note that if a food is fortified with aids do not need to be indicated. vitamins and minerals, the Finnish Food Authority must be notified of the food. The labelling requirements for enzymes will be clarified once the list of food enzymes The Finnish Food Authority has provided permitted in the EU is published as part guidance on the notification procedure on its of Regulation (EC) No 1332/2008 of the website. European Parliament and of the Council on food enzymes. For further information, see section 6.3 of the Food Information Guide for Food Supervisors For further information, see sections 6.2.8, and Food Operators (in Finnish and Swedish). 6.15 and 6.16 of the Food Information Guide for Food Supervisors and Food Operators (in Compound ingredients Finnish and Swedish). Compound ingredients are foods used as ingredients that themselves contain more Vitamins and minerals than one ingredient. Fortified foods are foods that include added vitamins, minerals or other nutritionally or As an example of a compound ingredient, the physiologically active substances (Regulation following ingredients are used to produce a (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European strawberry and apple filled bun: Parliament and of the Council). ■ Wheat flour ■ Strawberry and apple filling (sugar, Vitamins and minerals used to fortify the food strawberry, apple, water, modified starch, are considered to be ingredients and must colour E 120) therefore be named in the list of ingredients. It is recommended that they are named by ■ Vegetable margarine (partly hydrogenated the names listed in annex XIII of the food vegetable fat (turnip rape), rapeseed oil, information regulation, such as thiamin (not water, salt, flavouring) vitamin B1) and riboflavin (not vitamin B2). ■ Sugar ■ Egg Vitamins and minerals may also be indicated ■ Water using their category name, but this must be ■ Yeast followed by a detailed list of the vitamins and Salt minerals in question, for example: ■ ■ Cardamom ■ vitamins (vitamins A, D and E) ■ minerals (iron, calcium). Of these, “strawberry and apple filling” and “vegetable margarine” are compound In addition, the quantities of vitamins and ingredients, as they contain more than one minerals and their portion of daily reference ingredient. intakes must be included in the nutrition declaration. The nutrition declaration is discussed in detail in Section 8 of this guide.

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Indicating compound ingredients ■ Compound ingredients are foods Compound ingredients may be indicated in referred to in article 19 of the food the list of ingredients of a finished product in information regulation whose one of the following ways: ingredients do not have to be listed, for example 1. By the name of the compound ingredient ե butter that contains only milk The compound ingredient is listed by its products, food enzymes and micro- own name in the correct order according organism cultures to its weight. Immediately after this, its ե fermented cheese that contains only ingredients are indicated in parenthesis milk products, food enzymes or micro- or following a semicolon in descending organism cultures and salt. order by weight (*carry-over additives do not need to be indicated). However, these exceptions do not apply For example: to substances and products that cause Ingredients: Wheat flour, strawberry allergies and intolerances, which must and apple filling (sugar, strawberry, always be indicated. apple, water, modified starch, colour E 120), vegetable margarine (partly *Carry-over additives refer to additives that hydrogenated vegetable fat (turnip rape), have ended up in the food as the result of an rapeseed oil, water, salt, flavouring), ingredient, but have no effect in the finished sugar, egg, water, yeast, cardamom, salt. product. These additives are not considered 2. As individual ingredients as ingredients of the finished product, and The individual ingredients in a compound therefore do not have to be indicated in the ingredient are indicated in the correct list of ingredients unless they cause allergies order by their weight (*carry-over or intolerances. However, carry-over additives additives need not be indicated). must not be confused with additives that For example: come from ingredients and premixtures of Ingredients: Wheat flour, sugar, water, additives, which must always be indicated strawberry, apple, partly hydrogenated in the list of ingredients. These types of vegetable fat (turnip rape), rapeseed oil, premixtures are commonly used in the food egg, modified starch, yeast, cardamom, industry. salt, flavouring, colour E 120. For further information, see section 6.2.10 3. In certain cases, by name only In the following situations, compound of the Food Information Guide for Food ingredients may be indicated in the list of Supervisors and Food Operators (in Finnish ingredients only by their name without and Swedish). specifying the contained ingredients: ■ Compound ingredients that are less Quantities of certain ingredients or than 2% of the finished product and ingredient categories whose composition has been defined The quantities of food ingredients or by law (such as jam and chocolate) ingredient categories must be indicated if their quantities influence the consumers’ ■ Mixtures of spices or herbs that are decisions. less than 2% of the finished product

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The quantities of ingredients or ingredient Examples on indicating ingredient quantities: categories must be indicated in the following situations: Rainbow trout casserol 400 g ■ The name of the food contains any of its Rainbow trout 20% of weight ingredients or ingredient categories. For example: Ingredients: Potato, rainbow trout, cream, onion, corn starch, salt, dill, white ե In strawberry yoghurt, the amount pepper. of strawberry contained must be indicated. OR ե In rye bread, the amount of rye must be indicated. Rainbow trout casserole 400 g ե In minced meat produced from different meats, the weight ratio of the Ingredients: Potato, rainbow trout meats must be indicated. (20% of weight), cream, onion, corn ■ The consumer naturally connects the starch, salt, dill, white pepper. name of the food with an ingredient or ingredient category. For example: For further information, see section 6.4 of the ե In sausage, the amount of meat must Food Information Guide for Food Supervisors be indicated. and Food Operators (in Finnish and Swedish). ■ An ingredient or ingredient category is essential to the food and distinguishes it You can test your knowledge with the revision from other products. For example: exercises found in Section 11 of this guide. ե In marzipan, the amount of almonds must be indicated. ■ The ingredient or ingredient category Summary is emphasised in the product’s labelling ` For prepacked foods, list the through words, images or a typeface of a ingredients by descending order differing size, colour or style. For example: of quantity, from highest to lowest ե In fruity muesli, the amount of fruit percentage of total weight. must be indicated. ` Be sure to always include substances ե In butter rolls, the amount of butter that cause allergies or intolerances. must be indicated. ` If you use food improvement agents, check for possible restrictions on their How to indicate ingredient quantities use and requirements for additional Quantities of ingredients are indicated as a warning labels. percentage of the total weight of the product. The indication of the quantity must ` If you fortify a food with vitamins or accompany the name of the food or included minerals, you must notify the Finnish in the list of ingredients. Food Authority of the food. ` If you are emphasising a certain ingredient, be sure to indicate its amount in the food.

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