Pick any can of beans or box of cereal off the supermarket shelf and you’ll find a swathe of food information and symbols on the label. But who decides what’s included on that food label and what are the legal requirements?
Family-owned business Invopak has over 50 years of experience as a leading packaging supplier and is here to decode the wealth of information on food packaging symbols.
Who Regulates the Food Packaging Industry?
The FSA (Food Standards Agency) regulates the food packaging industry to ensure labels are clear and not misleading.
Types of Food Packaging Symbols
Use By Dates vs. Best Before Dates
Fresh Food
- Shorter shelf life (usually 2-5 days)
- Has a Use By Date stamped on it for safety – once this date has passed, there is an increased risk of harmful bacteria that can become dangerous if consumed
- Harmful bacteria can’t be detected through smell, so it’s important to follow the date marked on the label
- Consider the environment (i.e. temperature) that food is meant to be stored, on a warmer day, food can spoil faster as bacteria breeds rapidly on a warm day.
- Examples: fresh meat, fish, chilled goods
Canned Foods
- Long shelf life (typically 2-5 years)
- Stamped with an expiry date or ‘Best Before Date’
- Best Before date – indicates when food tastes at its best, potentially food can be eaten after this date has passed, but the texture may be different
- A biscuit can still be eaten once the best before date has passed, it might just be a bit soft, so not ideal for dunking! It won’t make you ill or cause any harm
- High-acidic foods like tomatoes and soft fruits will keep for 12-18 months, but low acid foods (meat and vegetables) will keep for years
- If stored in the right environment (i.e. colder conditions), these items can be kept indefinitely
- Carry out a smell and taste test to see if the item is fit to eat, to prevent edible food from going to landfill
- Examples: dry, frozen and tinned goods
Plastic Packaging Recycling Symbols
Food packaging is typically single use, and is hard to recycle. Environmental taxes, like the Plastic Packaging Tax and EPR, are designed to encourage manufacturers to change how they package food and promote recycling.
Recycling symbols are now more prominent on packaging and are clearer to understand making it easier to identify if packaging is recyclable.
Allergen Symbols
Labelling a product correctly for allergens is a legal requirement that is also essential for consumer safety. Any food containing any of these 14 allergens, must be listed:
- Celery
- Cereals containing gluten
- Crustaceans
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin
- Milk
- Molluscs
- Mustard
- Peanuts
- Sesame
- Soybeans
- Sulphur dioxide
- Sulphites
- Tree nuts
Standardised symbols or icons help consumers easily identify if products contain allergens. For example, the crossed-grain gluten-free symbol helps those who are gluten intolerant or coeliac identify if products contain gluten without having to read the ingredients list.
Organic and GMO Symbols
DEFRA (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has strict guidelines for products labelled as organic: goods have to be grown without man-made fertilisers and pesticides and the product, labels and suppliers have to be certified by an approved UK body so that the origin of the product can be traced.
On the other side of the environmental coin are genetically modified (GM) foods. In the UK foods must be labelled to indicate if they include genetically modified organisms or ingredients. Sometimes food manufacturers will highlight their product has not been genetically modified by using a GM-free symbol.
Organic and GM-free symbols encourage eco-conscious customers to buy these products, making them an important marketing tool.
Fair Trade and The Rainforest Alliance Symbols
The Fair Trade Certification Mark is one of the most recognisable food symbols and raises awareness of the fair trade scheme, makes imports and exports fairer and promotes a positive brand message. Fair Trade certification marks are now displayed on various products including coffee, bananas, sugar and even footballs!
Another logo that is becoming more common is The Rainforest Alliance’s green frog. This symbol can only be used by certified companies that have met the RA’s environmental and social standards for sustainability.
Kosher and Halal Symbols
These symbols help people choose products in line with their religious beliefs. It’s not legally required for food and drink products to be labelled this way, but this is currently under government review. As with all food labelling, any product positively labelled as Halal or Kosher must not be misleading and should adhere to the correct ingredient and preparation guidelines.
Nutritional Symbols
The main objective of nutritional symbols is to help people make informed choices about what they are eating by including clear labels on processed and pre-packed foods.
The FSA regulates what and how nutritional information is displayed on food packaging:
- Ingredients (listed in order of weight)
- Energy in kilojoules (kj) and kilocalories (kcal)
- Information on fat, saturates, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt content
In 2014, a voluntary traffic light labelling system was introduced to highlight key nutritional information (graded red, amber or green) depending on how healthy the product is and is displayed on the front of packaging.
As the World Health Organisation highlighted numerous health and well-being benefits on eating five portions of fruit and vegetables daily, the ‘five a day’ campaign was launched in 2003. As a result, companies use this as selling point and label pre-packaged foods in this way.
Tips for Interpreting Food Packaging Symbols
Food packaging symbols change often because of new legislation, customer demand or fresh initiatives on health and the environment. Failure to comply can lead to prosecution under Food Law, so it is essential to keep labels up to date.
Food packaging symbols are also about opportunity, enabling food businesses to showcase the benefits of their products, eco-credentials, or a specific dietary requirement.