Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading
Food Labelling in the UK - A supporting material page

Omission of mandatory nutrition declaration

Although the Regulation normally requires a mandatory nutrition declaration, certain foods are exempt. These are listed in Annex V and are given below.

Foods which are exempted from the requirement of the Mandatory Nutrition Declaration

1. Unprocessed products that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients;
2. Processed products which the only processing they have been subjected to is maturing and that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients;
3. Waters intended for human consumption, including those where the only added ingredients are carbon dioxide and/or flavourings;
4. A herb, a spice or mixtures thereof;
5. Salt and salt substitutes;
6. Table top sweeteners;
7. Products covered by Directive 1999/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 February 1999 relating to coffee extracts and chicory extracts, whole or milled coffee beans and whole or milled decaffeinated coffee beans;
8. Herbal and fruit infusions, tea, decaffeinated tea, instant or soluble tea or tea extract, decaffeinated instant or soluble tea or tea extract, which do not contain other added ingredients than flavourings which do not modify the nutritional value of the tea;
9. Fermented vinegars and substitutes for vinegar, including those where the only added ingredients are flavourings;
10. Flavourings;
11. Food additives;
12. Processing aids;
13. Food enzymes;
14. Gelatine;
15. Jam setting compounds;
16. Yeast;
17. Chewing-gums;
18. Food in packaging or containers the largest surface of which has an area of less than 25 cm2;
19. Food, including handcrafted food, directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer. [For guidance on this final item, see note below]

Annex V

Note: The final item in this list mentions 'small quantities' and 'local retail establishments' without defining 'small' or 'local'. For the interpretation of these terms, guidance had been provided by the Department of Health in their 'Technical Guidance on Nutrition Labelling' (March 2017). The Guidance (on page 5) states:

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