Background

FoodDrinkEurope guidelines: provision of food information to consumers

Published: 12/09/2013

These guidelines are intended for interested stakeholders, such as food business operators (including small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large food business operators) and EU policy-makers.

Following an evaluation of the legislation on food labelling by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Consumer and Health, the European Commission issued in 2008 a proposal which would combine two major Directives (Directive 2000/13/EC1 and Directive 90/496/EEC2) into one Framework Regulation (Regulation 1169/2011).

The Regulation establishes a legal framework in the European Union with regard to information related to foodstuffs provided to consumers by food business operators at all stages of the food chain. Its aim is to “serve the interests of the internal market by simplifying the law, ensuring legal certainty and reducing administrative burden, and benefit citizens by requiring clear, comprehensible and legible labelling of foods”.

The Regulation includes general principles, responsibilities as well as requirements governing food information. The provisions apply to all foods intended for the final consumer, including foods delivered by mass caterers, and foods intended for supply to mass caterers. Areas that are covered by the Regulation are amongst others nutrition information, origin labelling, legibility and allergens labelling.