Understanding food labels

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your MENU

Helping you and your team to be compliant

Food labelling, ingredients and legislation

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The UFS Food Labelling Guide 2012 is published by:

Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

15 Nollsworth Crescent, La Lucia Ridge

La Lucia Ridge Offi ce Estate

La Lucia

4051

www.ufs.com

Copyright © 2012

This work is the property of Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

This work is protected under the Berne Convention. In terms

of the Copyright Act 98 of 1998, no part of this work may

be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording

or by any information storage and retrieval system without

permission in writing from Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that

the information published in this work is accurate,

Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd, the editors, publishers

and printers take no responsibility for any loss or

damage suffered by any person as a result of the

reliance upon the information contained therein.

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As a chef or manager, the comfort and wellbeing of your guests is always the fi rst priority.

Your guests are better informed about their food choices than ever before. They want to know what’s in the meal they’re ordering, so they can make the best selection according to their needs. As legislation advances, you’ll want to be in compliance.

Understanding food labels

That’s why if any of them ask you questions about the exact

ingredients in your food, it’s crucial that you, as a food expert,

know how to read the label accurately, and that you’re able

to answer any dietary queries with confi dence.

This chapter summarises the information you can fi nd on

a food label and provides a practical step plan that will help

you to analyse which ingredients and allergens are present

in your own dishes.

What information does a food label provide?

• Product name and description.

• Which nutrients, and in what quantities, are present.

• Warnings if a food contains food allergens.

• Whether the food is fresh or out of date.

• Storage, preparation or cooking advice.

• A list of product ingredients.

• Information on where the food was

produced and by which company.

1515

Ingredients

list & food

additives

Food recall

information

Allergen

information

Storage

requirements

Country of origin

Date mark

A food label contains information that is required by law.

Essentially, they are there to provide us with basic information

about what is in the food we eat and how best to handle it.

Chapter 2 Understanding food labels

Name and

description of food

Nutrition labelling

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Food names and descriptions

Without exception, food labels must give a name for the food

or describe the true nature of the food. For instance it is not

acceptable just to brand a product as ‘beef stock’. Correctly,

it should be: ‘Beef fl avoured stock granules’. The intention

is that product names be completely accurate, so that they

can’t misinform or deceive the consumer.

The list of ingredients

Ingredients are always listed from greatest

to smallest by how much they weigh

(including any added water) at the time

they are added to the product.

In the ingredient list you will also fi nd

additives (E-numbers) and allergens listed.

Exceptions:

On the following products you often do not

fi nd any ingredients:

• Fresh vegetables, fruit and potatoes.

• Water with carbon dioxide.

• Fermentation vinegar.

• Sour milk and cream.

• Alcoholic drinks.

• Food that consists of 1 ingredient,

e.g. coffee.

Characterising ingredients

If you see a percentage in brackets next to a particular ingredient,

e.g. apples (26%), this is known as the characterising ingredient. It lists

the proportion of the ingredient/component included in the product –

in this example, what percentage of your apple pie is actually apple.

Ingredients: Maltodextrin, fl avouring, corn fl our, sugar, starch, hydrolysed vegetable protein, salt, fl avour enhancers (E631, E627, E920), onion powder, vegetable oil (palm fruit) (contains antioxidant TBHQ), colourant (E150d), thickener (E412), garlic powder, yeast extract.

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For further information on food ingredients & additives go to Chapter 3

Allergens

A further mandatory requirement is that

the common food allergens: crustaceans,

eggs, fi sh, milk, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts,

molluscs, cereals containing gluten and

their products, are always included in the

ingredient list.

For further information on food allergens go to Chapter 4.

Food additives

Food additives are listed in the ingredient list by their

functional name and by a number* or chemical name,

e.g. fl avour enhancer (E621 or monosodium glutamate).

* Please note labelling of E-numbers is not mandatory in South Africa.


Good to knowSome food labels say ‘may contain

e.g. nuts’. This means that even

though nuts haven’t been included

in the food deliberately, the

manufacturer can’t be sure that

the product doesn’t accidentally

contain small amounts of them.

Allergens: contains wheat gluten and cow’s milk.

This product is made in a factory that also processes soya and egg.

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For further information on food ingredients and additives go to Chapter 3.

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Nutrition information table

The nutrition information table

provides information on the

amounts of key nutrients in

the product using quantity per

100g/ml and per serving.

To learn more about the nutrition table go to Chapter 5.

Claims

Claims on pack can be used to promote the main benefi ts of a product and/

or brand. Claims can either be simple, direct statements but can also be

presented in the form of logos and symbols.

For chefs, claims on the product application such as ‘bain-marie stable’,

‘freeze thaw stable’ and ‘instant application’ can be as appealing as claims

on the product quality such as ‘organic’, ‘made with natural ingredients’,

‘made with cage free eggs’.

Also the suitability for various dietary requirements such as ‘lactose-free’,

‘gluten-free’, ‘vegetarian’, ‘without allergens’ or nutrition claims

such as ‘high in fi bre’, ‘low in fat’, ‘low calorie’ and ‘low in sodium’

can be relevant information for chefs.

Chapter 6 will show you some of the most common symbols and logos you’re likely to come into contact with.

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Storage, preparation and preservability instructions

‘Keep refrigerated’ and ‘Store in a cool, dark place’ are important

storage instructions that help you make sure food stays safe.

To ensure food is safe for consumption always follow any storage,

preparation or cooking instructions shown on the label, including

heating and defrosting times.

To learn more about different storage instructions and date marks go to Chapter 7.

Date marks

Food labels have date marks to tell us about

the safe shelf life of foods. These date marks

help us tell how long food can be kept before

it begins to deteriorate and lose key quality

characteristics, like taste and colour.


Preparation instructions

Preparation and/or dosing instructions tell you how to prepare/

dose the product. They are developed to ensure the best fl avour

and quality, and the optimal use in your kitchen.

Based on the dosing instruction the nutrition data of the prepared

product is shown in the nutrition table. When you follow this

preparation instruction you know the nutrition data of your

prepared food. The yield of the prepared product is also calculated

based on the on-pack preparation instruction. This information

helps you to ensure that you use the amount of product which is

most cost effi cient and delivers great taste.

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Net quantity indication

The net quantity indication of

the product is provided in ml, litre,

g or kg. This is the weight of the

product excluding the weight of

the packaging material.

Traceability information

To enable full traceability, it is a

legal requirement that food labels

show the name and business

address of the manufacturer

or supplier (packer, vendor or

importer), together with the lot

and batch number of the food

(or date coding).

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Country of origin

If you want to understand more

about where the food you buy

comes from, you can look for the

‘Country of Origin’ information

on pack. This information describes

the country or countries where

your food was manufactured

or packaged.

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Step plan – How to write your own ingredient and allergy declaration

Ingredient statement

1. List the ingredients you use in your

dish in their raw state in the order

of their quantity – from highest

quantity to the lowest.

2. Copy the ingredient list of every

processed ingredient.

3. Write the ingredient statement

for your dish in the order of the

ingredients listed in step 1

(highest quantity to the lowest).

This step plan helps you to write an ingredient and allergy

declaration for your dishes. This will help you to answer questions

from guests with dietary requirements (e.g. food allergies).


Good to know• Your menu may contain both processed and non-

processed ingredients. Non-processed ingredients

often don’t have an ingredient list. In this case just

include the name of the ingredient.

• Each ingredient should be separated by a comma.

• Ingredients should be listed with the product and

brand name to ensure that the statement is accurate

and the ingredient can be clearly identifi ed.

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Allergen statement

1. Check for the ‘Common Food Allergens’ in the

ingredient statement of the dish (Chapter 4).

2. Write the allergen statement for your dish by listing

the allergens in alphabetical order.

The ingredient and allergen statement is only accurate

if the exact ingredients in exact quantities are utilized

when cooking the dish. Update your statement as needed

(e.g. change in ingredients, change in quantities used etc).

Good to know• Most processed ingredients list allergens on

the packaging, helping you to identify which are

the allergens in your dish. If not please contact

your supplier’s helpdesk.

• Most naturally grown ingredients do not

have allergen information on pack. For these

ingredients please check if they are classifi ed

as common food allergens.

• For detailed information on common

allergens please refer to the Dietary

requirements chapter.

• Remember that allergens can enter

a dish through cross contamination

during preparation and serving.

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Data sources

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Understanding food labels

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Dietary requirements

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243

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Symbols and logos

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Storage

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Storage continued...

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