Reading a food product label: the information to know

The mandatory particulars

Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, as retained in UK law, lists what a prepacked food must show, subject to exceptions for some products:

• the name of the food;
• the list of ingredients;
• any ingredient or processing aid causing allergies or intolerances;
• the quantity of certain ingredients or categories of ingredients;
• the net quantity of the food;
• the date of minimum durability or the use-by date;
• any special storage conditions or conditions of use;
• the name or business name and address of the food business operator;
• the country of origin or place of provenance, where required;
• instructions for use, where needed;
• the alcoholic strength, for drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol by volume;
• a nutrition declaration.

The country of origin becomes mandatory in particular where leaving it out could mislead the consumer, and for certain meats (Article 26). The quantity of an ingredient must be given as a percentage when it appears in the name of the food, when the label emphasises it in words or pictures, or when it characterises the food (Article 22).

The ingredients list and allergens

The list is headed by the word ingredients and includes every ingredient in descending order of quantity at the time of manufacture (Article 18), so the first ingredient is the one that counts most in the recipe. Allergens from Annex II must be emphasised in a typeface that sets them apart, for example in bold (Article 21). When there is no ingredients list, the label shows the word contains followed by the allergen. The NHS adds that allergens are highlighted in bold on the packaging or an attached label.

Two dates not to confuse

The date of minimum durability is about quality: after it, a food may lose some of its quality without becoming unsafe. The use-by date is reserved for foods that are highly perishable from a microbiological point of view: after it, the food is deemed unsafe (Article 24). Annex X requires the use-by date to be followed by the storage conditions to respect.

Under Annex X, some foods need no date of minimum durability: fresh, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, most wines, drinks with 10% alcohol or more, bakery goods normally eaten within 24 hours, vinegar, cooking salt, solid sugar and chewing gum.

The nutrition declaration

The mandatory nutrition declaration gives the calories, in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal), and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt (Article 30). Values are given per 100 g or per 100 ml (Article 32), which makes two products easy to compare. The NHS notes that labels sometimes also give values per portion, and that a manufacturer's idea of a portion may differ from yours.

Red, amber and green

According to the NHS, many front-of-pack labels highlight calories, fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt, and some use colour coding: red means high, amber medium and green low. The NHS also gives thresholds per 100 g for foods: more than 17.5 g of fat is high and 3 g or less is low; more than 22.5 g of total sugars is high and 5 g or less is low; more than 1.5 g of salt is high and 0.3 g or less is low. Different criteria apply to drinks.

A worked comparison per 100 g

Because the nutrition declaration is given per 100 g or per 100 ml, you can compare two products without doing any conversion. The table uses invented numbers to show the method; it is not a real product, and the thresholds come from the NHS page quoted above.²

The same method works for drinks, with the different criteria that the NHS gives for them. Remember that the first ingredient is the one that counts most in the recipe, so a quick look at the first three lines of the list tells you a lot about what a food is mostly made of. For ways to turn this into a routine, read how long it takes to form a habit, the guide to a morning routine and the overview of habits and routines. Every other topic is listed in the Chutex guides.

What an authorised claim is

Under Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, retained in UK law, any non-mandatory message, including pictures or symbols, that states or implies that the food has particular characteristics is a claim. Nutrition claims concern what the food provides, provides less of or does not provide, such as low fat or high fibre. Health claims state or imply a relationship between the food, or one of its constituents, and health.

A health claim is prohibited unless it is authorised and included in the list of authorised claims (Article 10). When one is used, the label must also state the importance of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, and the quantity of the food and pattern of consumption required.

Reading a label in thirty seconds

• Read the name of the food rather than the picture on the pack.
• Look at the first three ingredients: they count most in the recipe.
• Spot the allergens, emphasised in the list.
• Check which date it is: use by for safety, minimum durability for quality.
• Compare two products per 100 g or 100 ml, not per suggested portion.

These tips are one way of using the information described above; they are not official rules.

What this page does not say

• It rates no product and names no brand.
• It summarises general rules; specific rules apply to some foods.
• Rules in Northern Ireland may follow EU law on some points; this page describes the retained regulation as published on legislation.gov.uk.

Frequently asked questions