Food labelling: What does it all mean?

A buyer's guide to the meanings and implications of the words on our food packaging. By Jack Shamash

The labels on food are supposed to give shoppers information they need. In practice they can be a minefield. Here, for once and for all, is our buyer's guide to just what all those labels mean, starting with the most important labels of all, the utterly meaningless ones!

 

BROAD, LOOSE DESCRIPTIONS

The following terms can be found on perfectly delicious and nutritious foods but their presence on a label does not actually 'mean' anything...

 

Lite - some things which are lite actually contain a lot of fat

 

Fresh - how fresh?

 

Traditional - by whose standards

 

Handmade - entirely made by hand or partly?

 

Premium - aka 'nice'

 

Finest - aka 'nice'

 

Best quality - by whose standards?

 

Selected - by whom?

 

COMPULSORY LABELLING
This is where the law is on your side. Here's what a food manufacturer has to put on the label...

A list of ingredients (including water) - remember: the list in is order of weight

 

The name and address of manufacturer, packer or retailer - just who is responsible for this product?

 

A list of additives and preservatives (these must be named in full or listed according to their E Numbers)

 

Allergens - the Food Standards Agency insists that 14 allergens are named. These include celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans (such as lobster and crab), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at levels above 10mg per kg or per litre. Highly refined products made with these allergens do not have to be listed because they are unlikely to result in an allergic reaction. This would include such products as refined soya oil.

 

Labels should also include the amount of significant product - for example the amount of apple in an apple pie or the amount of meat in a sausage.

 

Food labels should state if there are genetically modified (GM) ingredients - however the label will not necessarily say if any of the ingredients were prepared with other GM products ie by being fried in GM oil. Labels such as ‘GM-free' are relatively meaningless.

 

Labels also have to say where the food was made, but this can be very confusing. For example, chicken from Thailand can be described as ‘Produce of UK' if it is processed in the UK into a product such as chicken nuggets.

 

ECO AND WELFARE LABELS

These labels have some clout and are worth looking out for...

 

Carbon Trust label shows the weight of carbon used to make the products

 

Fairtrade logo is given by the Fairtrade Foundation where farmers in the third world get a guaranteed price and better working conditions

 

Freedom Food logo is awarded by the RSPCA to meat, eggs and dairy products where the RSPCA's standards have been met

 

LEAF marque is given to food with high environmental standards

 

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) logo is put on fish from sustainable fisheries

 

Organic labels are usually certified by the Soil Association or by Organic Farmers and Growers. The produce is expected to be grown without articial pesticides or fertilisers.

 

VOLUNTARY LABELLING

Manufacturers will often put the following information on labels, but there is no obligation on them to do so...

 

Nutritional information - ie the amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate or salt in a particular product

 

A sell-by date or a use-by date - the Food Standards Agency stresses that these dates should be seen as a quality issue. After these dates, the food may degenerate or be less tasty. It won't necessarily be unsafe to eat.

 

Storage information - ie keep in refrigerator, eat within two days of opening etc

 

Cooking instructions - just a bit useful, these!

 

Traffic lights - The Food Standards Agency has introduced its own system of ‘traffic lights', which are supposed to indicate whether a product is low in salt, sugar or fat. However this system has not been universally accepted, and some major supermarkets have rejected it entirely.

 

 

PROMOTIONAL LABELS

Geographical labels - is that Cornish clotted cream really from Cornwall? The EU allows some products to be given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) labels. Welsh Lamb can carry a PGI mark and Cornish Clotted Cream can carry a PDO mark. This means that no-one from outside of Cornwall can claim to produce ‘Cornish clotted cream’ – even if the product looks and tastes like the original. Similarly, if producers use the term ‘Welsh lamb’, the lamb has to come from Wales. 

 

Union Jacks - many supermarkets use these on British produce.

Red Tractor Scheme - backed by the British Retail Consortium and the National Farmers Union, this sets standard for British grown foods.

 

Meat organisation labels: Organisations such as the English Beef and Lamb Executive have their own quality marks, which do prove the origin of the produce thus labelled.

 

And that's your lot! Go forth and buy, using the knowledge gained here. We hope we've helped you in the search for the kind of food you really want on your plate.

 

 

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