Food labels provide important information about what we eat. Reading them helps us to know fundamental details about foods and ingredients such as the expiry date, the presence of allergens and the nutritional values. Knowing the data printed on the packaging, whether it is a glass bottle, a cardboard box or an aluminum can, is essential to make the most of the qualities of a food and to protect our health and that of our family members.
Europrodotti offers you a complete and precise guide to discovering food labelling, the real identity card of the food we bring to our tables.
Why it is important to read a food label
Reading the label of food products is a fundamental step in choosing the foods we eat. When we choose a product we are mainly influenced by advertising and price. Yet in the moment we take a jar of preserves, a box of pasta or even a simple bag of spices we should dedicate a few moments to reading the labels on the packaging. That small space on the packaging contains very precious information, with important benefits for our health and the quality of our recipes.
Mandatory information on food labels
What information do we consumers need to find on a food label? European legislation answers this question with EU regulation no. 1169/2011 which establishes the presence of the following mandatory informations:
- sales name;
- list of ingredients;
- presence of allergens;
- quantity of some ingredients;
- net quantity of the product;
- expiry date or minimum shelf life;
- storage conditions;
- name and address of the food business operator;
- nutritional declaration.
Just one glance is enough to understand why all this information cannot be contained in small bottles, boxes and jars, such as spice jars. For this reason some informations are not mandatory on labels with a surface area of less than 10 cm2.
However, all informations must always be present if the label surface is between 10 and 80 cm2 and must be printed with a typographic character equal to or greater than 0.9 mm.
If the surface is greater than 80 cm2 the character must be equal to or greater than 1.2 mm.
Let us now explain the informations on the labels.
Food labels: reading guide
Sales name
The sales name is the official name that identifies and distinguishes a food product. For example, sales denominations of cookies may include cinnamon cookies, sesame seed cookies and ginger cookies.
List of ingredients
The ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, starting from the most abundant up to the one contained in the least amount. The list must also include any additives, identified by a number preceded by the letter E, and flavourings.
Presence of allergens
Allergens are substances that are harmless to most people but can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergens are listed in the ingredient list and must be highlighted clearly, for example in bold or underlined.
Quantity of some ingredients
There are ingredients that characterize a product and which therefore appear in the sales name, such as beef in a can of meat. By law their quantity must be indicated as a percentage of the total weight of the product.
Net quantity of product
The net quantity of a product is indicated in litres, centiliters or milliliters if it is a liquid and in kilograms and grams in other cases. When the food is immersed in a liquid, such as vegetables in oil or fruit in syrup, the indication of the drained weight must appear.
The e that appears next to the weight indicates that the European Union provisions regarding packaging have been respected and that this food can circulate freely within the EU territory. Therefore this symbol does not represent the net weight of the product as is mistakenly thought.
Expiry date or minimum shelf life
The expiry date is the limit beyond which that product can be harmful to your health. However we can find on the label of foods such as pasta, rice, jams, preserves, spices and aromatic herbs the words best before.... It means that this food is still edible beyond the indicated date, even if it has lost some of its flavour, aroma and nutritional qualities.
The date is expressed in different forms depending on the duration of the product:
- dd/mm/yy for foods with a shelf life of up to three months;
- mm/yy for foods with a shelf life of three to eighteen months;
- only the year for foods whose shelf life exceeds eighteen months.
Tip: in the pantry always place foods close to their expiry date in a clearly visible position and further away than those you have just purchased. Also write the expiry date in large letters with a marker on the lid or on the package so that it comes to your attention immediately.
Storage conditions
Storage conditions are essential to respect the shelf life of the product. For example for frozen foods it is necessary to respect the cold chain, i.e. constant maintenance at low temperatures from the moment they are taken from the supermarket freezers to the moment they are placed in the home freezer.
Tip: use a thermal bag when shopping, which will keep the product at a low temperature until you return home.
Let us also remember that the expiry date can change depending on the category of the freezer, recognizable by the number of stars shown in the instruction manual and on the door. The stars indicate the minimum temperature that can be reached:
- temperature of -6° for a star;
- temperature of -12° for two stars;
- temperature of -18° for three stars;
- temperature up to -25/-30° for four stars.
Good preservation may also require keeping food away from light and sources of heat and humidity. Therefore the pantry must be a closed, cool and dry space.
Name and address of the food business operator
The food business operator shown on the label represents the company responsible for the commercialization of the product. In addition to the name, the production plant and its address are also indicated.
Nutrition declaration
The nutritional declaration allows you to know the nutritional values of food products, helping consumers to choose and organize their diet. In particular in this part of the label we find the following data for 100 grams or 100 milliliters of product:
- the energy contained in the product, expressed in kilocalories (kcal) or kilojoules (kJ). Let's keep in mind that 1 kcal is equivalent to 4.186 kJ;
- proteins in grams;
- carbohydrates and sugars in grams;
- total fats with the specific value of saturated fats;
- the quantity of salt.
In addition to these data other nutrients such as dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals may be indicated, if declared by the manufacturer.
Checking nutritional values is the starting point for a good and healthy diet. Remember to compare the values reported on the label with these parameters.
The daily caloric requirement for moderate physical activity is:
- 1,600-1,800 kcal for children (9-13 years);
- 2,000-2,200 kcal for girls (13-17 years);
- 2,400-2,800 kcal for boys (13-17 years);
- 2,000-2,200 kcal for women (18-64 years);
- 2,400-2,600 kcal for men (18-64 years);
- 1,800-2,000 kcal for the elderly (65 or older).
The normal daily protein requirement per kg of body weight is:
- 0.9 grams for children;
- 1.0 grams for girls;
- 1.1 grams for boys;
- 0.8 grams for adults;
- 1.1 grams for the elderly.
The amount of salt should not exceed 5 grams and must be further reduced in subjects suffering from hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Reading food labels is an important part of our shopping which will lead to enormous benefits for our health and the quality of the meals we prepare. With this article, Europrodotti provides the tools to discover all the information we need to know about the food we intend to choose and buy.