The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) last week published the first comprehensive report on food labelling in Ireland. The Labelling of Food in Ireland 2002 aims to clearly define what a food label should contain. For the FSAI, the function of food labelling is to inform purchasers of the properties, ingredients, nature and characteristics of the food they buy and, crucially, labelling should not mislead consumers. The information contained in food labels should be clear, unambiguous and must not make misleading or false claims.
The FSAI believes that the new report will ultimately benefit consumers and assist them in making informed purchasing decisions based on accurate, clear food labelling information. The authority confirmed that enforcement officers throughout the country are taking a proactive stance across the food chain to ensure that food labels in Ireland comply with regulations.
The 180-page report brings together in detail all Irish and European law governing the labelling of food. In addition to the full report, a summary leaflet has also been produced for both consumers and the food industry.
Enforcement officers throughout the country, working under service contract to the FSAI, have been briefed on the report and have participated in workshops to assist them identify those foodstuffs that might be in breach of the regulations.
In addition, the FSAI is publishing on its website the training material used in these workshops to allow the food industry to carry out training courses for their staff, to ensure the food labels they are using conform to regulations. The training material is freely available on the FSAI's website.
According to Dr Patrick Wall, chief executive of the FSAI, the food label should provide sufficient information, accurately and clearly, to enable consumers to select products according to their needs, to store and prepare them appropriately, and to consume them safely.
"It is unacceptable that consumers are purchasing foodstuffs where the labelling is incorrect, lacking clarity or is simply portraying the product as something it is not. We see the production of the detailed report and summary leaflet as beneficial to consumers, enforcement officers and industry.
Industry now has no excuse for mischievous, misleading or illegal labelling and cannot claim ignorance of the legal requirements. We are not against aggressive marketing, but wish to ensure that consumers are being provided with honest accurate labelling," Dr Wall said at the report launch.
As a caution to manufacturers, Dr Wall continued: "Manufacturers should not mislead the consumer by using marketing images that could be misinterpreted, omit significant information or make undue emphasis on certain words.
All claims must be substantiated. The onus is on the manufacturer to demonstrate that any claims are true, and they must be able to provide documentation and evidence in support of claims which outweighs any opposing evidence or opinion."