Front of pack nutrition labelling shows a summary of the nutrition information on the front of the product pack. Providing front of pack information is voluntary for food producers, however, if provided, it must meet the standards of National Regulations.
Front of pack labelling is an effective means of communicating nutritional information to consumers [1]. It allows consumers to get a snap shot of the nutritional quality of the foods that they are thinking about purchasing before they commit to buying them. This gives consumers the tools they need to make more informed food choices, simply at a glance. Front of pack labelling also promotes reformulation of food products by the food industry [2].
In Europe, Regulation 1169/2011 outlines the rules for providing food information to consumers. In Australia, this is governed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), while in the US, the FDA are responsible for food regulation.
In addition to the required back of pack nutrition panel, Nutritics can generate both the EU traffic light labels and the FSANZ system to facilitate food producers in front of pack labelling. This saves them time, money and importantly, ensures the calculations are applied correctly and in line with the National regulations.
Front of pack labelling in the UK and Europe
Front of pack labelling allows food producers to give a summary of energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt on their packs. Some EU countries have adapted European guidance [3] on front of pack labelling and have developed a colour coded system to enhance consumer understanding of front of pack nutrition information. The colours green, amber and red (like traffic lights), highlight if a food product contains a low, medium or high quantity of these nutrients. The criteria used to determine if a nutrient should be labelled as red, green or amber are given in these guidelines.
When a portion of food is more than 100g or 150ml, the amount of nutrients present in the food are checked against ‘per portion’ criteria. If any nutrients are present in levels in excess of the ‘red’ per portion cut-off points, then they must be labelled red. Where a nutrient does not meet the criteria to be labelled red, the amounts of nutrients are checked against the ‘per 100g’ criteria for foods and ‘per 100ml’ criteria for drinks and are labelled either amber or green.
With Nutritics, traffic light labels are automatically generated for your recipes and the appropriate criteria are applied depending on the size of a serving.
Australia and New Zealand
While the front of pack labelling provided for in the European legislation is largely used across the EU, different methods are used in different countries. For example, Australia and New Zealand use a nutrient profile model. Nutrient profiling involves rating foods based on their nutritional value in relation to disease prevention and health promotion [4].
From the nutrient profile model, a front of pack labelling system called the ‘Health Star Rating System’, was initiated in 2014. It was developed by the Australian, state and territory governments in collaboration with industry, public health and consumer groups with an aim of providing a standardised means of comparing foods, thereby making it easier for consumers to make more informed choices [5].
This system takes the overall nutritional quality of a food product into account and gives it a star rating on a scale from half a star, up to five stars. Food with higher star ratings are higher in ‘positive’ nutrients such as fibre and protein, and lower in nutrients that are associated with diet-related diseases e.g. saturated fat and salt.
The star rating is calculated per 100g or 100ml of product and is determined using a calculator that has been developed by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and other experts. The system is monitored by the Health Star Rating Advisory Committee.
Nutritics are proud to be the first to have developed a streamlined, automated system to generate Health Star Ratings for your recipes to help facilitate voluntary front of pack labelling.
United States
In the US, the FDA are set to propose guidance for the food industry on front of pack labelling information. These guidelines will be developed in collaboration with the food industry with an aim of promoting healthier food choices among consumers [6]. Food businesses wishing to declare nutrient content information on the front of pack must do so in compliance with legislation on nutrient content claims. Nutritics automatically generates nutrition claims for recipes that meet the criteria laid out the US legislation.
The bottom line
Creating an appropriate front of pack label is traditionally a complex manual process rife with many pitfalls! Nutritics allows you to easily create front of pack labels for your products that are suitable for use in the UK, US and Europe and Australia. Why not try Nutritics today for your front of pack labelling requirements?
References
- Becker, M., Bello, N., Sundar, R., Peltier, C. and Bix, L. (2015). Front of pack labels enhance attention to nutrition information in novel and commercial brands. Food Policy, 56, pp.76-86.
- Mhurchu, C., Eyles, H. and Choi, Y. (2017). Effects of a Voluntary Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling System on Packaged Food Reformulation: The Health Star Rating System in New Zealand. Nutrients, 9(8), p.918.
- Department of Health, food Standards Agency, Welsh Government, Food Standards Scotland (2016). Guide to creating a front of pack (FoP) nutrition label for pre-packed products sold through retail outlets. [online] Available at: https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdfs/pdf-ni/fop-guidance.pdf [Accessed 18 Jul. 2017]
- World Health Organisation. (2017). Nutrient Profiling. [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/profiling/en/ [Accessed 22 Aug. 2017].
- Commonwealth of Australia. (2016). Health Star Rating - About Health Star Ratings. [online] Available at: http://healthstarrating.gov.au/internet/healthstarrating/publishing.nsf/Content/About-health-stars [Accessed 22 Aug. 2017].
- Front-of-Package Labeling Initiative. [Online] U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 8 February 2017. [Cited: 25 September 2017.] https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/labelingnutrition/ucm202726.htm.