Food Matters

Food Labels are there to tell you the facts about foods so that you can understand exactly what you are buying, whether it is good value for money and whether it is healthy. Food labels can be very confusing however there are clear guidelines about what labels can or cannot show.

Food labelling is strictly governed by law. Labels must not make false claims or give misleading descriptions and there are clear guidelines about what labels can show.

The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 requires food to be marked or labelled with the following requirements;

1. Name or description of the food
2. List of ingredients
3. The amount of an ingredient which is named or associated with the food
4. Use By/Best Before date
5. Place of origin
6. Process used in manufacture
7. Name of manufacturer
8. Special storage instructions
9. Instructions for use

For more information about food labelling law visit the food standards agency website.

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Food labels often contain a wealth of information and sometimes it can be difficult to identify the relevant terms and symbols.

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As well as giving information about the ingredients of a product many labels make claims about the food that they are describing, often health related e.g. low fat, organic. Not all of these food claims are governed by law therefore it is important that consumers fully understand what these claims actually mean – explanations of some of the more commonly used claims are given below;

Bio
The term Bio is generally found on yoghurts or related products yet there are no rules and when the term can actually be used or what it really means.

Manufacturers claim that the term bio means that the product contains ‘live’ bacteria often described as being beneficial to health particularly digestion. However, scientists disagree about how beneficial these bacteria actually are and whether the bacteria are really ‘live’ by the time they are consumed.

Reduced salt/sodium
Eating high levels of salt in our diets has been linked to high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. It is recommended that we try and reduce the amount of salt we eat particularly in processed foods known to contain high levels of salt.

When shopping particularly if buying processed foods you should look for ‘reduced’ or ‘low’ salt/ sodium labels or check the ingredients list. As a general guideline 0.1g sodium per 100g is considered a low amount whereas 0.5g per 100g is considered high.

Lite/Light
The law does not specify exactly what ‘lite’ or ‘light’ actually means so manufacturers can often use these terms to quantify different amounts of food. The best advice is to look at the nutritional panel on a product comparing the calories / fat content per 100g. It is often found that some products claiming to be light may contain the same calories as a different brand with no health claim.

Low fat/Fat free
If you would like to know the fat content of a product then the best advice is to check the nutritional content rather than rely on these claims. The law says that claims should not be misleading but it doesn’t say when they can be used.

As a guideline a product is ‘low in fat’ if it contains less than 3g of fat per 100g and is ‘fat free’ if the product contains less than 0.15g of fat per 100g.

If a product has 20g of fat or more per 100g then it is considered high in fat.

Free from
Claims such as ‘free from’ can sometimes be misleading. For example, a bottle of alcohol that is described as alcohol-free may still legally contain up to 0.05 per cent alcohol. If you would like to know exactly what is or isn’t in a certain product then it is recommended that you look at the ingredients list carefully.

No added sugar/unsweetened
If a product is described as having no ‘added’ sugar then it does not mean that it contains no sugar or will have a sour taste. A product with no added sugar may still contain natural sugar e.g. from fruit or artificial sweeteners.

‘Unsweetened’ means that no sugar or sweetener has been added to the food yet it still may contain natural sugar. Always check the ingredients and nutritional content to see how much sugar a product may contain.

Organic
There are strict rules about using an organic claim on a food product. Producers making this claim must be able to prove that no fertilisers or pesticides have been used that are no approved for organic production. Land must also have been farmed organically for a set period, usually two years.

Use by/best before
Most packaged foods have a ‘best before’ date. This means that after this date the food may no longer be at its best however may still be safe to eat.

On some products such as soft cheese, yogurt or smoked fish you may see a ‘use by’ date. Food should not be eaten after this date as it may not be safe. It is illegal to sell food after it’s use by date has expired.

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