Labeling Your Food

As a responsible food supplier or grower, you will, we are certain, be well aware of the requirements that are needed on a food or drink product label, but it is worth running through the main points.

To sell food and drink products, the label must be: clear and easy to read, it must be permanent and easy to understand, it should be clearly visible and not in any way misleading. If you pre-pack food there are a number of requirements and these include the name of the food, a ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ date, or if not on the label where it is to be found on the pack, the quantity and include any legal warnings and a list of ingredients of there are more than two.

The name and the address of the manufacturer or it could be the seller, and any conditions that are recommended regarding storing the product, for example refrigerated at a certain temperature; often cooking guidelines are included.

There are special requirements for drink products, particularly alcoholic drinks, for example if the alcoholic content is above 1.2% the label must give an indication of alcoholic strength by volume. This must be shown as a figure to not more than one decimal place, also it should have a warning concerning the government recommended guidelines for safe consumption of alcohol.

There are of course many more requirements, but this gives a guide to the main points, we will be pleased to advise you of anything specific if you are unsure about the requirements for food and drink labels.

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