EU Council Adopts New Nutrition and Origin Food Labeling Rules

(The EU states that it is necessary to streamline the current labeling legislation in order to ensure easier compliance and greater clarity for stakeholders and to modernize it to take account new developments in the field of food information. The EU states this will simplify the law, ensure legal certainty, reduce administrative burden, and benefit citizens by requiring clear, comprehensible and legible labeling of foods.)

Mandatory Food Info Must Appear Clearly on Pre-Packed Food Labels

According to the new rules, pre-packed food labels must indicate the list and quantity of ingredients, the "use by" date, a nutrition declaration, among other information. This mandatory food information will need to appear directly on the package or on a label attached thereto in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly, legible, and, where appropriate, indelible.

Nutrition Declaration Must Appear in Same Field of Vision, Per 100g or 100ml

The nutrition declaration includes energy value, and amounts of fat, saturates carbohydrates, protein, sugars, and salt.¹ The new rules state that the content of the nutrition declaration must be expressed per 100g or per 100ml, or indicated on a per portion basis or as a percentage of reference intakes (Guidelines Daily Amounts). Elements of the nutrition declaration will also need to appear together in the same field of vision.

Provides Specific Font Legibility Requirements, Prohibits Use of Misleading Info

In order to improve legibility, the new rules establish a minimum font size for the mandatory information of 1.2 mm for the x-height. If the largest surface of a food package is less than 80 cm² the minimum font size is reduced to 0.9 mm.

The new rules also strengthen the prohibition of misleading information and require information to be accurate, clear, and easy to understand for the consumer. In the case of foods in which a component or ingredient that consumers normally expect to be used or naturally present has been substituted with a different component or ingredient, the label should bear - in addition to the list of ingredients - a clear indication of the component or the ingredient that has been used for the partial or whole substitution.

Extends Compulsory Country of Origin Labeling to Pork, Lamb & Poultry Meat

The new rules extend compulsory country of origin labeling (COOL) to fresh pork, lamb and poultry meat. Currently, the indication of the country of origin is compulsory notably for fresh beef, fruits and vegetables, honey, olive oil and where the failure to do so would mislead consumers.

Commission Will Examine COOL for Meat as Ingredient, Other Meats, Milk, Etc.

The new rules provide that the Commission must examine, within two years after the entry into force of the rules, the possible extension of compulsory country of origin labeling to meat used as an ingredient. Within three years after the entry into force, the Commission will have to examine the same question with regard to types of meat other than beef, pork, lamb and poultry, milk, milk used as an ingredient, unprocessed foods, single-ingredient products and ingredients that represent more than 50% of a food.

Allergens Must Always be Indicated & Distinguished from Other Ingredients

Although non-pre-packed food is exempted from nutrition labeling (unless member states decide otherwise at the national level), allergens must always be indicated. On pre-packed food, allergens must be included in the list of ingredients and emphasized through a typeset that clearly distinguishes them from the rest of the list of ingredients.

Certain Alcoholic Beverages Exempted from Nutrition Declaration, Ingredient List

Alcoholic beverages (including alcopops) containing more than 1.2% by volume of alcohol are, for the time being, exempted from the obligation to bear a nutrition declaration and a list of ingredients. The Commission must, however, within three years after the entry into force of the new rules, examine whether alcoholic beverages should be covered by the rules, in particular, by the requirement to indicate the energy value, and make legislative proposals, if appropriate. The Commission will also have to consider the need to propose a definition of alcopops.

Most Rules to Apply 3 Yrs After Publication, 5 Yrs for Nutrition Declaration

The rules enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, which is expected for the end of November. However, a majority of the rules will apply three years after publication, except for the mandatory nutrition declaration rules, which will apply, at the latest, five years after publication.

(These new rules come after the Council approved a compromise text following a second-reading agreement with the European Parliament. See ITT's Online Archives 11050518 for BP summary of the European Parliament advancing its draft of these rules.)

¹Three years after the entry into force of this regulation, the Commission will submit a report on the presence of trans fats in foods and in the overall diet of the EU population to determine if trans fat should be included in the mandatory nutrition declaration. The Commission will accompany this report with a legislative proposal, if appropriate

Compromise text is available here and here.

EU Council press release on the new rules is available here.

Q&A on the new EU food labeling rules is available here.