Labels or food labels in the food sector can be vital. Food allergies are increasing every year. According to the WHO, 2 to 3% of adults and even 6 to 8% of children suffer from food allergies. It is important for the manufacturer to provide sufficient and correct information on nutrition. Want to know more? Read the blog.
PIM and the food sector: labels & tags
LEGISLATION
Since there is a big risk of consuming products to which you are allergic, the EU has written a legislation. Belgian legislation is based on this and is strictly monitored by the FASFC. The law EU 1169 on food labelling has been in effect since December 2014 and stipulates that food labels must contain the following information:
- Allergens are marked on the list of ingredients and must be clearly stated on the label.
- Indicate which product with a sales description.
- The list of ingredients, of which the most used ingredient must be listed first, then the second most used…etc. All additives (E numbers) must be listed on the ingredient list.
- The content must be clear: how many litres, grams or kilograms are in the packaging. The weight of the packaging not included.
- The date of minimum durability or use-by date.
- The lot number: this may be a date consisting of a day and a month.
- The storage instructions or conditions of use, such as ‘keep refrigerated’.
- The name and address of the person responsible for the product must also be present on the label.
- The alcohol volume for drinks with an alcohol degree higher than 1.2%.
- For deep-frozen products, the name must say “deep-frozen”. It should also be stated that once defrosted, the product should not be refrozen.
Chances are that the regulations will continue to increase as consumers become more aware of what they eat. Moreover, there is a high demand from consumers for transparency of food products. This has led food manufacturers to adapt their strategies to improve customer experience and build trust. Manufacturers and suppliers are increasingly using MDM solutions to consolidate and manage nutritional and product information (which is static) within their organization. This allows them to easily publish accurate and up-to-date information across all their online and offline channels, regions and partners. Retailers also have to manage this information and they also make the best use of an MDM solution. As a result, they can monitor and manage the data better, place responsibility with the manufacturer and clearly visualize changes.
NUTRI-SCORES
Nutri-scores are a recent addition to nutrition labels. Nutri-score is a food choice logo for food products, with the aim of encouraging consumers to make healthier choices. It works with a traffic light system with five levels from A to E. This is calculated based on basic data, which you can manage within your PIM or MDM system. This way you do not have to calculate or recalculate this separately for each product if something is changed in the logic behind the nutri-score. We see this trend only getting bigger in the future, with better and more transparent data and labels.
YellowGround is the MDM and PIM expert of the Benelux. We mentioned before that MDM or PIM is the missing ingredient in the food sector and what the importance of PIM is for the food sector. Don’t miss this series about PIM and the food sector.