Что тут делать скажи Food Labelling
Most foods are sold in packaging,with a label giving information about the
product inside. Some of the informationhas to be shown by law. Some is shown
voluntarily by the food producer to attractconsumers to buy the product.
Food labels should: a) give consumers correct information so that they can choose between foods and understand what they are buying; b) be honest by giving correct information about the product; c) be clearly set out and easy to understand.
Food labels should not mislead consumers about: a) what the food product is
made from; b) where the ingredients come from and how they were produced; c)
what size the product is; d) how the product was made; e) how long the food product will be safe to eat.
Food labelling is controlled by laws in different countries and by the European
Union (EU). These laws apply to all food products that are made for sale to
consumers and caterers. The laws do not apply to food that is eaten where it is
bought. However, all places where people buy food to eat have to display a notice
saying which foods they sell contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients.
The information that must be put on the label:
1. The name of the food product.
2. The amount of the food product in the package shown as grams (g),
millilitres (ml) or litres (l); or as a number of items, e.g. ‗5 apricot and nut cereal
bars‘.
A letter ‗e‘ means that the average weight of a pack must be accurate
(agreed by the EU), but the weight of each pack may vary slightly.
3. A date mark to safeguard consumers against eating unfit food. There
are different date marks for:
Perishable foods, which are only safe to eat for a few days, and less
than one month, have to show a ‗sell by‘ or ‗display until‘ date and must also give a‗use by‘ or ‗eat by‘ date.
Foods with a shelf-life of up to 12 weeks have to show a ‗best before
day, month and year‘ date mark.
Foods with a shelf-life of more than 12 weeks have to show a ‗best
before month and year‘ date mark.
(Both of the above ‗best before‘ date marks may have ‗BBE‘ and then a
date printed. This means ‗best before the end‘ of the day, month, or year printed – so a bottle of lemonade, for example, that says ‗BBE Jan 2002‘, unopened, will remain safe to use until January 31 2001.)
4. A list of ingredients, including any additives that have been used. These
are listed in descending order of weight – i.e. the heaviest or greatest amount will be written first and the smallest, last. From February 2000, the amount of each ingredient also had to be included in this list. If water id added to a product and
makes up more than 5% of the final weight, it must be included in the list. Some
foods do not have to show a list of ingredients, e.g. fresh fruit and vegetables and
single ingredient foods, e.g. sugar.
5. The place of origin.
6. Advice on storing, preparing and cooking the food product.
7. The name and address of the food manufacturer, packager and
importer.
Here are some other things you often see on food labels:
· a bar code so that the product can be identified by the computer.
Companies use this technology to identify: a) the price, size, colour, flavour; b)
where and when the product was made (batch number); c) how much of it has been
sold; d) from which shop it was sold;
· a serving suggestion (usually a picture to give the customer some ideas);
· symbols or logos to show whether the product is suitable for a particular
diet or occasion, e.g. vegetarians, a barbecue, a low-fat diet.
Nutrition labelling
Many people try to look after their health by eating well and therefore like to
know what is in the food they buy. Food manufacturers usually try to help people to eat healthily by giving information on the label about the nutrients in their products.
At present, nutrition labelling is voluntary in the EU, but if such information is
given, it has to be written in a particular way. The only time that nutrition labelling
has to be given is when the manufacturer makes a claim about a product, for example
‗this product is low in fat and sugar‘ or ‗suitable for babies under 6 months‘ or
‗suitable for diabetics‘.
There are computer programmes available that work out the nutritional value
of different foods and recipes. The results can be presented as graphs, tables or charts.
Some programmes also show the percentage of the recommended daily intake that
each nutrient in the product provides.
There are different ways of presenting nutrient information. All nutrient labels
have to show the amounts of nutrients in100g or 100ml of the prodct, and may also
show how much there is in a serving.

MishaNY2001    3   20.02.2022 07:32    0