Current food labelling requirements get an EU update

In today’s modern world, people are becoming more dedicated to the concept of food safety and showing greater interest in the ingredients that make up their meals, including preservatives and additives. What’s more, consumers are more health conscious now than they have ever been, especially in regards to what their children are consuming as they grow up.

With that in mind, people are paying greater attention to the way that their food has been labelled. Various monitoring agencies, including those in the EU, have risen to the challenge of improving food safety standards, and begun to crack down on incorrect labelling and false advertising breaches.

New labelling requirements

New regulations will be put into place on the 13th of December 2014 regarding the provision of food information to customers. This means that all processed food in Europe will be required to include mandatory nutrition information, as well as country of origin labelling, for unprocessed meats from sheep, goats, poultry and pigs.

Food product labels will also inform customers of environmental facts about their produce such as the greenhouse emission produced during the manufacturing and packaging of the item.

Good news for allergen sufferers

Under the new legislation, allergens must be highlighted in the ingredient list and the minimum text size will be raised to improve legibility. Requirements in regards to allergen information will also be applicable on foods that have not been pre-packaged, such as those sold in cafes or restaurants.

This new labelling legislation supports the already impressive track record that the EU have when it comes to keeping the public informed about what goes into the food they feed to their families.

Other countries, including Canada, Japan, and France, have also begun to follow the EU’s example and even the United States is expected to take action in the coming years.