16 March 1999: LABELLING - The Food Labelling (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 1999

The Food Labelling (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 1999: Amendment of Provisions on "QUID" and Amendment of Provisions on "Individual Portions"

The draft Regulations are based on the copy of the agreed text as the actual Commission Directive has yet to been published in the Official Journal. There may, therefore, be a need to make some adjustments to them should the text of the published Commission Directive.

The draft Regulations will amend regulation 19 of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 to

• make clear that QUID declarations will not be required when the declarations "with sweetener(s)" or "with sugar(s) and sweetener(s)" appear by law on the label, or when the amounts of certain added vitamins or minerals are given in required nutrition labelling;
• require foods which lose moisture during heat or other treatment, and volatile ingredients such as brandy, to base any QUID declarations on the ingoing ingredient expressed as a percentage of the weight of the final product;
• permit ingredients used in concentrated or dehydrated form which are reconstituted during manufacture to be indicated as "whole" ingredients; and
• permit concentrated or dehydrated foods intended to be reconstituted by the consumer before consumption to give QUID declarations on the basis of the reconstituted product.

The opportunity is also being taken to correct an error in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996. Regulation 26(3) fails to implement correctly the provisions of EC Directives 94/54/EC and 96/21/EC in that it exempts individual portions of cheese, jam, butter, milk, mustards, sauces, tea, coffee, sugar etc which are sold either as an accompaniment to another food (eg a meal in a restaurant) or another service (hospitality trays in hotels) from the requirements of regulations 33 and 34 (relating to declarations about the use of packaging gases and the presence of sweeteners). This exemption should only be applicable to such products if they are also covered by regulation 26(1) (ie they are prepacked foods the largest surface area of which is less than 10 square centimetres).

It is proposed that all of the above changes will come into force on 30 June 1999, subject to a transitional period until 14 February 2000. The consultation period ends on 10 May 1999.