[FOS 10,105] General requirements in labelling21 

21

(1) Pre-packaged food shall not be described or presented on any label or in any labelling in a manner that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character in any respect.

(2) Pre-packaged food shall not be described or presented on any label or in any labelling by words, pictorial or other devices which refer to or are suggestive either directly or indirectly, of any other product with which such food might be confused, or in such a manner as to lead the purchaser or consumer to suppose that the food is connected with such other product.

(3) In accordance with section 13 of the Act all pre-packaged food produced, processed, packed, distributed or imported shall be labelled with the following information—

• (a)the name of food;
• (b)list of ingredients;
• (c)net contents or drained weight;
• (d)name and address of the manufacturer or packer or distributor;
• (e)lot identification;
• (f)date marking and storage instruction; and
• (g)instruction for use.

(4) The name of the food—

• (a)shall indicate the true nature of the food; and
• (b)where a name or names have been established for a food in a Codex Alimentarius Standard, at least one of these names shall be used.

(5) There shall appear on the label, close to the name of the food, all additional words or phrases necessary to avoid misleading or confusing the consumer in regard to the true nature and physical condition of the food including but not limited to the type of packing medium, style, and the condition or type of treatment it has undergone; for example: dried, concentrated, reconstituted, smoked.

(6) In relation to the ingredients in a food—

• (a)except for single ingredient foods, a list of ingredients shall be declared on the label;
• (b)the list of ingredients shall be headed or preceded by an appropriate title which consists of or includes the term ‘ingredient’;
• (c)all ingredients shall be listed in descending order of ingoing weight (m/m) at the time of the manufacture of the food;
• (d)cereals containing gluten; crustacea and products of these; eggs and egg products; fish and fish products; peanuts, soybeans and products of these; milk and milk products (lactose included); tree nuts and nut products; and sulphite in concentrations of 10 mg/Kg or more are known to cause hypersensitivity and shall always be declared and be declared by their specific name;
• (e)added water shall be declared in the list of ingredients except when the water forms part of an ingredient such as brine, syrup or broth used in a compound food and declared as such in the list of ingredients;
• (f)water or other volatile ingredients evaporated in the course of manufacture need not be declared;
• (g)dehydrated or condensed foods which are intended to be reconstituted by the addition of water only, the ingredients may be listed in order of proportion (m/m) in the reconstituted product provided that a statement such as “ingredients of the product when prepared in accordance with the directions on the label” is included;
• (h)a specific name shall be used for ingredients in the list of ingredients unless a general class name as permitted in the Codex General Standard on the labelling of pre-packaged food would be more informative. In such circumstances, the permitted class names as laid out by the Codex General Standard on the labelling of pre-packaged food, may be used;
• (i)ingredients derived from beef and pork including but not limited to pork fat, lard, and beef fat shall always be declared by their specific names;
• (j)for the identification of food additives, excluding those specified under (d) and (i), it shall be sufficient to list them under their respective classes as specified in the Codex General Standard on the labelling of pre-packaged food together with the specific name or lSN numerical identification;
• (k)the presence of brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue or tripe in a food, shall be declared either by class name of the offal or by the specific type of offal;
• (l)when a product is labelled as being in “natural oil”, the addition of water, whether declared or not, shall not be permitted such that the consumer is misled by the label as to the packing medium;
• (m)in case of mixed or blended food, words which indicate that the contents are mixed or blended, as the case may be, and such word shall be conjoined with the appropriate designation of the food “mixed................................................................” or “blended................................................................”; and
• (n)where, the food or its ingredients have been purposefully exposed to ionising radiation, the statement or declaration indicating that the food or its ingredients has or have been treated with ionising radiation.

(7) In relation to the declaration of the net contents—

• (a)the net contents or drained weight shall be declared in metric system (‘System International’ unit) or both in metric and imperial system; and
  • (i)for solid foods by weight, for liquid foods by volume; and
  • (ii)for semi-solid or viscous foods, either by weight or volume.

(8) In relation to the name and address of the manufacturer or packer or distributor—

• (a)the name and physical address of the manufacturer, or packer or distributor or owner of rights of manufacture or brand owner in the case of food of local origin;
• (b)for imported food, the name and address of local importer and/or distributor and the country of origin; or
• (c)when a food undergoes processing in a second country which changes its nature, the country in which the processing is performed shall be considered to be the country of origin for the purposes of labelling.

(9) With respect to lot identification, each container shall be permanently marked to identify the producing factory and the lot.

(10) In relation to date marking and storage conditions—

• (a)the expiration date shall be declared on all food where the food shall be consumed before a certain date because of health and safety reasons;
• (b)the expiration date shall be declared by the words “use-by.........................” or “expiry date.........................” or “expiration date.........................” or “exp.........................” and these words shall be accompanied by the date itself in uncoded numerical sequence except that the month may be indicated by letters;
• (c)the date of minimum durability shall be declared on all food where an expiration date is not required unless otherwise exempted by these and subsequent regulations;
• (d)the date of minimum durability shall be declared by the words “best before................” or “best bef................” and these words shall be accompanied by the date itself in uncoded numerical sequence except that the month may be indicated by letters;
• (e)the expiration date or the date of minimum durability shall consist at least of the day and the month for products with a minimum durability of not more than 3 months; or the month and the year for products with a minimum durability of more than 3 months;
• (f)an indication of the date of minimum durability or expiration date shall not be required for fresh fruits and vegetables which have not been peeled, cut or similarly treated; wines, liqueur wines, sparkling wines, aromatised wines, fruit wines and sparkling fruit wines; beverages containing 10% or more by volume of alcohol; bakers’ or pastry-cooks’ wares which, given the nature of their content, are normally consumed within 24 hours of their manufacture; vinegar; food grade salt; solid sugars; confectionery products consisting of flavoured and/or coloured sugars; or chewing gum;
• (g)in addition to the date of minimum durability or expiration date, any special conditions for the storage of the food shall be declared on the label if the validity of the date depends thereon;
• (h)an indication of the date of minimum durability or expiration date shall not be required for bread with a shelf life of less than 7 days. Such food shall bear a label with the words “baked-on .........................” and these words shall be accompanied by the date itself in uncoded numerical sequence;
• (i)an indication of the date of minimum durability or expiration date shall not be required for packed fresh meat, fish or poultry with a shelf life of less than 7 days. Such food shall bear a label with the words “packed-on .........................” and these words shall be accompanied by the date itself in uncoded numerical sequence; and
• (j)shelf stable food, including but not limited to certain canned food, with a minimum durability of 3 years shall be deemed to have met date marking requirements of these Regulations if it bears the date of manufacture and a statement as to the minimum durability.

(11) Instructions for use, including reconstitution, where applicable, shall be included on the label, as necessary, to ensure correct utilisation of the food.

(12) For non retail containers not destined to final consumers, the name of the product, lot identification, net contents and the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, distributor or importer, as well as storage instructions, shall appear on the container, except that for tankers the information may appear exclusively in the accompanying documents.

(13) Notwithstanding subregulation (12), lot identification, and the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, distributor or importer on non retail containers may be replaced by an identification mark, provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying documents.