| Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading
Food Labelling in the UK - A supporting material page |
The minimum requirement is for most prepacked foods to provide 7 specified items of nutrition data - energy, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. If space permits, these should be given in a table. The legal requirement is to specify quantities 'per 100g' (or 100ml). The following image from a pack of Spreadable fat, provides this minimum requirement:
The Regulation allows for additional information to be provided - both additional nutrients and also in different amounts (e.g. per serving). The following example, taken from a pack of 2 Individual sponge puddings, gives plenty of additional data. The table also contain some information on the % Reference Intake (RI). This is a permitted optional extra (Article 32(4)) and usually relates to the data per 100g. However, there is a provision (Article 33(1)(c)) which, when nutrition data is given per consumption unit, permits this information to be given either per 100g or per consumption unit. The % RI data given here relates to each pudding (110g). Note that when % RI data is given, there has to be the statement 'Reference intake of an average adult (8400kJ/2000 kcal)' and this is given below the table.
For the main index page for this site, go to Food Labelling in the UK: A Guide to the Legal Requirements