| Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading
Food Labelling in the UK - A supporting material page |
To help extend storage life by slowing the growth of spoilage microorganisms, the atmosphere in some packs is adjusted during the packing operation. However, once the pack is opened, this protection is no longer present. To alert the consumer to this, the Regulation requires the label to provide an additional statement. This is the extract from Annex III:
| TYPE OR CATEGORY OF FOOD: Foods packaged in certain gases | PARTICULARS |
| Foods whose durability has been extended by means of packaging gases authorised pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 | 'packaged in a protective atmosphere' |
Below are parts of the back panel from two packs showing the additional required statement 'Packaged in a protective atmosphere'. The first is from some Ground coffee and the second from some Grated cheese. For the coffee, the wording used is not precisely that given in the Regulation but has the same meaning. For the grated cheese, the storage information is given indicating that, once opened, the product will have a limited life.
