Do you know that many pre packed food products need a nutrition facts label? In some cases, you can apply for an exemption, provided certain criteria are met. In those cases nutrition labeling might not be needed.
Most food businesses are required to have nutrition labels on their pre packed food products. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), who are responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recommend that a product meets compliance before it can be considered marketable. FSA works with local authorities to enforce food safety regulations and they also visit meat plants to check that standards are being met.
Mandatory nutrient information on food labels:
While providing nutrition information, food businesses have to declare:
- Energy value
- Amounts of fat
- Saturates
- Carbohydrate
- Sugars,
- Protein
- Salt
Prepacked foods need to declare the nutritional values of the food products. It is usually referred to as the back of pack nutrition labelling.
Calories and Reference Intake (RI)
The nutrition labels need to display the amount of energy, such as kilocalories and kilojoules, the amount of fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, and salt. All these nutrients need to be expressed in grams present in 100g (or 100 ml) of the food. FSA also rules that the nutrition information may also be expressed per portion provided the number of portions present in the pack is quoted.
Energy
The amount of energy in foods and drinks must be shown in kilocalories (kcal) and kilojoules (kJ). FSA guides by saying that the average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain his weight while the average woman needs around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ). These tend to vary depending on an individual’s age and levels of physical activity, among other factors. Calorie intake will vary for children, depending on a number of factors, such as age and how physically active they are.
Reference Intake (RI)
The Reference Intake (RI) is a guide to the ballpark figure of nutrients, which include fats, saturated fats, salt, and sugar, plus the energy you need for a healthy diet. It is shown as a percentage (%) on the food label and the RI values tend to vary from nutrient to nutrient, and give a useful indication of how much the average person needs.
Date Labels
Most foods and drinks must be marked with either a ‘Use by’ or ‘Best before’ date. It indicates the guidance for the correct storage of the product. For example, raw meat or fish, cooked sliced meats, dairy products, prepared salads, etc.
Presentation of nutrition information
FSA rules that nutrition information on the nutrition labels should be presented in tabular format with the numbers aligned where space does not permit. The declaration should come up in linear format, for example, the energy value must be expressed in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal) and the amount of the nutrients must be expressed in units (g, mg or mcg).
Food nutrition information label templates in the UK show all elements are included next to each other. Nutrition data on the labels should come to appear per 100 g/ml when using the measurement units and as a percentage for the reference intake (RI).
How to calculate the nutritional values?
The FSA legislation allows for various ways of calculating the nutrient values. Those could be the use of laboratory analysis or the use of food nutrition facts analysis and labelling software to calculate nutritional values.
The most economical and convenient form is the use of a tool for calculating nutritional values of food products and creating nutrition label template free trials for the UK is much more efficient, faster, and cost-saving.
Nutritionist Pro™ NexGen: UK/Europe Nutrition Food Label Generator
An online nutrition label generating tool, Nutritionist Pro™ NexGen is designed to help food businesses to create food labels for UK/EU. You can create unlimited label styles in English, French, Spanish, build an unlimited number of recipes/formulas by using the European Food database of this online nutrient analysis application which makes creating recipes very easy. You can add custom ingredients as needed and save labels in high-resolution images.
Want to get a hang of how easily you can create nutrition labels with Nutritionist Pro™ NexGen? Watch these great quick videos which showcase the features of the online Nutritionist Pro™ NexGen application.