Analysis of Food Labels

Know the policy drivers of food labelling

The main stakeholders in food labelling are the government, industry, and consumers. The government is interested in health and safety in order to reduce the costs of healthcare, the industry is interested in making their food look good so that people will buy it, and consumers have a whole range of things that they are looking for when they buy food, from safety to health, to other kinds of values (e.g. choosing locally sourced ingredients).

Describe the food labelling hierarchy

The food labelling hierarchy basically shows how important different factors are in food labelling policy. Food safety is of utmost importance, followed by preventative health, new food technologies (e.g. genetic modification and nanotechnology), and consumer values.

Identify and discuss food labelling requirements

Nutrition information panel

Pretty self-explanatory- this contains information about the amounts of macronutrients in the food, as well as some other stuff, such as fibre and sodium. Information is usually displayed as per serve (and the serving size is listed as well) as well as per 100g. Certain foods do not need this panel, such as foods with very small packages (e.g. chewing gum), foods with no significant nutritional value (e.g. tea and coffee), unpackaged foods, and foods made and packaged at the point of sale (e.g. bread made and sold at the same bakery).

Percentage labelling

Packaged foods need to tell you what percentage of the food is made up of each of the key (or "characterising") ingredients. For example, this baby food is 66.9% bananas, 25% pineapple, 8% oranges, and 0.1% lemon juice.

Name/description of food

Foods must be labelled accurately. If something is fruit-flavoured, but doesn't contain actual fruit, then it should be labelled as "fruit-flavoured [insert item here]", NOT as "fruit [insert item here]." In a similar vein, the pictures should also be accurate- if there is a picture of strawberries on the package, then the food must also contain strawberries. Weights should also be accurate.

Food recall info

Name and business address of the manufacturer must be listed so that recalls can be done if necessary.

Info for allergy sufferers

Potential allergens, such as milk, nuts, and eggs, need to be listed so that allergy sufferers can avoid them.

Date marking

The main types of date markings are use by and best by dates. "Use by" means that the food must be consumed by the date indicated, as the food may become unsafe to eat afterwards. "Best by" means that the food is still safe to eat afterwards, but it might not be at its best quality. Some foods, like bread, might have a "baked on" date instead.

Ingredient list

Any ingredient that makes up more than 5% of the food must be listed. Ingredients are usually listed in descending order by weight (so the ingredient that contributed the most is first, followed by the second biggest contributor, and so on).

Food additives

Additives are also listed in the ingredients list. There are many different types of additives. Emulsifiers prevent salad dressings and other such foods from separating into layers, and preservatives help to increase the shelf life of food. Additives must be used in the lowest possible quantity.

Legibility requirements

Labelling wouldn't be much good if we couldn't read it, so there are requirements for labels to be printed large enough and clearly enough for us to read them.

Directions for use and storage

Perishable foods often need directions for storage. For example, yogurt packages will often have a line or two reminding you to store it in the fridge.

Country of origin

Food packages need to say where the food was packaged, and whether the ingredients also originate from that country (local vs. imported). In Australia, if food is labelled as being a "Product of Australia," it means that it was made in Australia from Australian ingredients. If, on the other hand, the food is labelled as "Made in Australia," it means that it was made in Australia with imported ingredients.

Five Star Health Rating

More and more foods nowadays come with a 5-star rating. Unfortunately, it can be easy for companies to exploit the rating system- for example, Milo has a 4.5 star rating, but that only reflects its nutritional value when consumed with skim milk, not full-cream milk.