INFORMED CONSUMERS DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES ALLERGENS CONTENTS OF FOOD NUTRIENT VALUES INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENS NUTRIENT VALUES DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES ALLERGENS INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS NUTRIENT VALUES CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENS INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS ALLERGENS INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS NUTRIENT VALUES INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD INGREDIENTS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENS NUTRIENT VALUES INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS ALLERGENS INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD FAIR PRACTICES INFORMED CONSUMERSHANDBOOK NUTRIENT ON VALUES CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICESFOOD LABELLING DATE MARKS TOINFORMED CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENSPROTECT INFORMED CONSUMERS CONSUMERS FAIR PRACTICES INGREDIENTS INFORMED CONSUMERS ALLERGENS CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS NUTRIENT VALUES CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS DATE MARKS FAIR PRACTICES INFORMED CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENS DATE MARKS FAIR PRACTICES INFORMED CONSUMERS ALLERGENS INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD NUTRIENT VALUES INFORMED CONSUMERS CONTENTS OF FOOD INFORMED CONSUMERS DATE MARKS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS ALLERGENS FAIR PRACTICES INFORMED CONSUMERS DATE MARKS INFORMED CONSUMERS ALLERGENS NUTRITION FACTS HANDBOOK ON FOOD LABELLING TO PROTECT CONSUMERS Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2016 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 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CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... v Preface ....................................................................................................................... vii 1 BASIC CONCEPTS OF FOOD LABELLING ............................................................ 1 1.1 Why food labelling? ............................................................................................ 1 1.2 What is a food label? .......................................................................................... 2 1.3 What is a food labelling policy? .......................................................................... 3 1.4 Stakeholders in food labelling ........................................................................... 4 2 HARMONIZATION OF FOOD LABELS ................................................................... 5 2.1 Codex Alimentarius Commission ...................................................................... 5 2.2 Regional and international agreements ............................................................. 6 2.3 World Trade Organization agreements ............................................................... 6 3 EFFECTIVE FOOD LABELLING: PRINCIPLES AND GOOD PRACTICES ............... 9 3.1 Preventing misleading labelling ......................................................................... 9 3.2 Promoting consumer understanding and use of labels .................................. 10 3.3 Format, language and legibility .........................................................................11 4 FORMULATING A FOOD LABELLING POLICY ................................................... 13 4.1 Costs and benefits of food labelling ................................................................ 14 5 REGULATIONS AND LAWS TO IMPLEMENT LABELLING POLICIES ................ 17 5.1 Mandatory labels ............................................................................................. 17 5.2 Voluntary labelling ........................................................................................... 18 5.3 Support for the implementation and effectiveness of food labelling legislation ........................................................................................................ 18 5.4 Compliance and enforcement mechanisms ................................................... 19 6 COMPONENTS OF A FOOD LABEL .................................................................... 21 6.1 Food identity ................................................................................................... 21 6.2 Ingredient lists ................................................................................................ 21 6.3 Quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID) ..................................................... 21 6.4 Food additives ................................................................................................. 22 6.5 Labelling allergenic ingredients ...................................................................... 23 6.6 Date marking ................................................................................................... 24 7 NUTRITION INFORMATION ON PACKAGES ..................................................... 27 7.1 Nutrient declaration (mandatory and voluntary) ............................................... 27 Mandatory nutrients .......................................................................................................27 7.2 Nutrient reference values................................................................................. 28 7.3 Nutrient claims ................................................................................................. 31 7.4 Front of Pack nutrition labelling ........................................................................ 33 7.5 Health claims ................................................................................................... 35 Summary .................................................................................................................. 39 Resources .................................................................................................................. 41 References ................................................................................................................ 45 iii TABLES ♦ TABLE 1 - The role of governments, food producers and consumers in food labelling .............4 ♦ TABLE 2 - Benefits and costs of labelling ...............................................................................15 ♦ TABLE 3 - Key Nutrition Reference Values (NRV) ....................................................................29 ♦ TABLE 4 - Types of nutrition claims .........................................................................................32 ♦ TABLE 5 - Types of health claims ............................................................................................36 FIGURES ♦ FIGURE 1 - Example of a quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID) .....................................22 ♦ FIGURE 2 - Nutrient declaration labels ...................................................................................30 ♦ FIGURE 3 - Examples of Front of Pack labels from Norway, United Kingdom and Australia ..34 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FAO wishes to thank the following individuals for their contributions to this book: Janice Albert, Mary L’Abbe, Christina Wong, Carmen Bullon, Mary Kenny, Verna Carolissen, Markus Lipp, Maria Xipsiti and Chiara Deligia. v PREFACE At the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), held in Rome 19-21 November 2014, governments affirmed that “empowerment of consumers is necessary through improved and evidence-based health and nutrition information and education to make informed choices regarding consumption of food products for healthy dietary practices” (FAO/WHO, 2014a). Food labelling was included among the recommendations in the ICN2 Framework for Action (FAO/WHO, 2014b). Food labelling has been recognized as an effective tool to protect consumer health in terms of food safety and to promote nutritional well-being. Labelling laws prevent fraud and misleading information