PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINES

To ensure that nutrition labelling is effective:

  • in providing the consumer with information about a food so that a wise choice of food can be made;
  • in providing a means for conveying information of the nutrient content of a food on the label;
  • in encouraging the use of sound nutrition principles in the formulation of foods which would benefit public health;
  • in providing the opportunity to include supplementary nutrition information on the label.

To ensure that nutrition labelling does not describe a product or present information about it which is in any way false, misleading, deceptive or insignificant in any manner.

To ensure that no nutritional claims are made without nutrition labelling.

PRINCIPLES FOR NUTRITION LABELLING

A. NUTRIENT DECLARATION

– Information supplied should be for the purpose of providing consumers with a suitable profile of nutrients contained in the food and considered to be of nutritional importance. The information should not lead consumers to believe that there is exact quantitative knowledge of what individuals should eat in order to maintain health, but rather to convey an understanding of the quantity of nutrients contained in the product. A more exact quantitative delineation for individuals is not valid because there is no meaningful way in which knowledge about individual requirements can be used in labelling.

B. SUPPLEMENTARY NUTRITION INFORMATION

– The content of supplementary nutrition information will vary from one country to another and within any country from one target population group to another according to the educational policy of the country and the needs of the target groups.

C. NUTRITION LABELLING

– Nutrition labelling should not deliberately imply that a food which carries such labelling has necessarily any nutritional advantage over a food which is not so labelled.

3.2 LISTING OF NUTRIENTS

3.2.1 Where nutrient declaration is applied, the declaration of the following should be mandatory:

3.2.1.1 Energy value; and

3.2.1.2 The amounts of protein, available carbohydrate (i.e., carbohydrate excluding dietary fibre) and fat; and

3.2.1.3 The amount of any other nutrient for which a nutrition claim is made; and

3.2.1.4 The amount of any other nutrient considered to be relevant for maintaining a good nutritional status, as required by national legislation.

3.2.2 Where a claim is made regarding the amount and/or the type of carbohydrate, the amount of total sugars should be listed in addition to the requirements in Section 3.2.1. The amounts of starch and/or other carbohydrate constituent(s) may also be listed. Where a claim is made regarding the dietary fibre content, the amount of dietary fibre should be declared.

3.2.3 Where a claim is made regarding the amount and/or type of fatty acids, the amounts of saturated fatty acids and of polyunsaturated fatty acids should be declared in accordance with Section 3.4.7.

3.2.4 In addition to the mandatory declaration under 3.2.1, 3.2.2 and 3.2.3, vitamins and minerals may be listed in accordance with the following criteria:

3.2.4.1 Only vitamins and minerals for which recommended intakes have been established and/or which are of nutritional importance in the country concerned should also be declared.

3.2.5 When nutrient declaration is applied, only those vitamins and minerals which are present in significant amounts should be listed.

3.2.6 In the case where a product is subject to labelling requirements of a Codex standard, the provisions for nutrient declaration set out in that standard should take precedence over but not conflict with the provisions of Sections 3.2.1 to 3.2.5 of these guidelines.

3.3 CALCULATION OF NUTRIENTS

3.3.1 Calculation of Energy

The amount of energy to be listed should be calculated by using the following conversion factors:

Carbohydrates4 kcal/g – 17 kJ

Protein4 kcal/g – 17 kJ

Fat9 kcal/g – 37 kJ

Alcohol (Ethanol)7 kcal/g – 29 kJ

Organic acid3 kcal/g – 13 kJ

3.3.2 Calculation of Protein

The amount of protein to be listed should be calculated using the formula:

Protein = Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen x 6.25

unless a different factor is given in a Codex standard or in the Codex method of analysis for that food.

3.4 PRESENTATION OF NUTRIENT CONTENT

3.4.1 The declaration of nutrient content should be numerical. However, the use of additional means of presentation should not be excluded.

3.4.2 Information on energy value should be expressed in kJ and kcal per 100 g or per 100 ml or per package if the package contains only a single portion. In addition, this information may be given per serving as quantified on the label or per portion provided that the number of portions contained in the package is stated.

3.4.3 Information on the amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fat in the food should be expressed in g per 100 g or per 100 ml or per package if the package contains only a single portion. In addition, this information may be given per serving as quantified on the label or per portion provided that the number of portions contained in the package is stated.

3.4.4 Numerical information on vitamins and minerals should be expressed in metric units and/or as a percentage of the Nutrient Reference Value per 100 g or per 100 ml or per package if the package contains only a single portion. In addition, this information may be given per serving as quantified on the label or per portion provided that the number of portions contained in the package is stated.

4. PERIODIC REVIEW OF NUTRITION LABELLING

5.1 Nutrient labelling should be reviewed periodically in order to maintain the list of nutrients, to be included in composition information, up-to-date and in accord with public health facts about nutrition.