Novel foods

Specific foods

Lot marking

Requirements for lot mark labelling are contained in the Food (Lot Marking) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996 No 1502) (as amended) which implemented Directive 89/396/EEC.. However, note in particular the exemption listed under item g) below.

The following are useful definitions contained in the Regulations:

• Lot: a batch of sales units of food produced, manufactured or packaged under similar conditions
• Lot marking indication: an indication which allows identification of the lot to which a sales unit of food belongs

Lot marking requirement

1) Food which forms part of a lot must be accompanied by a lot marking indication.

2) For the purposes of 1),

a) a lot shall be determined as a lot to which food in the sales unit belongs by a producer, manufacturer, packager, or the first seller established within the United Kingdom, of the food in question.
b) a lot marking indication -

• will be determined and fixed by one of the operators in a),
• shall be preceded by the letter "L" unless it is clearly distinguishable from other indications on the packaging or label, and,
• for prepacked food shall appear on, or on a label attached to, the packaging of the food

Exemptions

The following are exempt from the requirements:

a) agricultural products when sold to a temporary storage, preparation or packaging station or to a producers' organisation or for collection for immediate integration into an operational preparation or processing system;

b) food which is sold to the ultimate consumer and is not prepacked, is packed at the request of the purchaser or is prepacked for immediate sale;

c) sales units in containers where the area of the largest side is less than 10 sq. cm;

d) a sales unit which is prepacked, sold as an individual portion for immediate consumption, and is intended as a minor accompaniment to another food or service;

e) a sales unit of an individual portion of an ice cream supplied to its seller in bulk packaging which bears the required lot marking indication;

f) a sales unit marked or labelled before 1.7.1992;

g) a sales unit which is marked or labelled with the date of minimum durability or "use by" date consisting of at least the uncoded indication of the day and month (as required by Regulation 1169/2011);

Notice that, by virtue of the exemption allowed by g) above, many foods do not need to have a specific lot mark. Although not specified in the Regulations, government guidance issued at the time the controls were first introduced included the following statement: "Best before end" dates are acceptable as lot marks as the indication of the day and month (as required by the Regulations) is implicit (e.g. "best before end October 1997" means best before 31 October 1997).

Note: More detailed guidance, published in November 1996, on the requirements for lot marks can be found in the document: 'The Food (Lot) Marking Regulations 1996: Guidance notes' .

Specific foods