EU food labelling rules under Regulation 1169/2011: what the label must show

What the label must show

Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 lists 12 mandatory particulars: the name of the food, the list of ingredients, allergens, the quantity of certain ingredients, the net quantity, the date of minimum durability or the "use by" date, special storage conditions or conditions of use, the name and address of the responsible food business operator, the country of origin or place of provenance where required, instructions for use where needed, the actual alcoholic strength for drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol by volume, and a nutrition declaration.

The responsible operator is the business under whose name the food is marketed or, if that business is not established in the EU, the importer into the EU market. The name of the food, the net quantity and the alcoholic strength must appear in the same field of vision. Mandatory particulars are printed with an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm when the largest surface of the package is less than 80 cm². On packages whose largest surface is less than 10 cm², only the name of the food, allergens, the net quantity and the date marking are mandatory.

EU food label checklist for exporters

• Name of the food, net quantity and alcoholic strength in the same field of vision
• Ingredient list headed "ingredients", in descending order of weight
• The 14 allergens emphasised in the ingredient list
• Best before or use by date, and storage conditions
• Name and address of the EU operator or importer
• Nutrition declaration per 100 g or 100 ml, in a language of the selling country

Allergens, nutrition and language

Annex II lists 14 allergens: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts, celery, mustard, sesame seeds, sulphur dioxide and sulphites, lupin, and molluscs. They must be emphasised in the ingredient list with a typeset that clearly distinguishes them from the other ingredients, for example by font, style or background colour. If there is no ingredient list, the label uses the word "contains" followed by the allergen.

The nutrition declaration became mandatory for most foods on 13 December 2016. It gives energy in kJ and kcal, then fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt, per 100 g or 100 ml. Energy alone, or energy with fat, saturates, sugars and salt, may be repeated on the front of the pack, in addition to the full declaration and not instead of it. All mandatory information must be in a language easily understood by consumers where the food is sold, and each Member State may require one or more official EU languages on its territory.