Mandatory food labelling (EU)
What is mandatory food labelling (EU)?
Mandatory food labelling is the set of information EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires on every packaged food sold in the Union. It covers the name of the food, the ingredient list with allergens emphasised, net quantity, a date of minimum durability or use-by date, storage conditions, the name and address of the business responsible, and a nutrition declaration per 100 g or 100 ml. The text is in the language of the country of sale.
Example
A small dairy launches a yoghurt in a new pot. The food technologist supplies the specification; we set out the label area and lay the fields into it: the name of the food, the ingredients in descending order of weight, the allergens picked out inside that list, net quantity, a date with the storage conditions, the lot number, the name and address of the operator, and a nutrition table per 100 g. The same product also sells in a 90 g pot whose largest surface is under 80 cm², where the type drops to the 0.9 mm allowed there and the fields are rearranged so everything stays readable.
Why it matters for a business
Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 applies directly across the Union, so the same fields travel with the product from one market to the next. A few rules settle most arguments:
- Language. The information is given in a language the buyers of that country understand, which in practice means the local one.
- Size. The x-height of the type is at least 1.2 mm, or 0.9 mm where the largest surface of the pack is under 80 cm².
- Allergens. They sit inside the ingredient list and are set apart by type, style or background.
- QUID. When an ingredient is named or pictured on the front, its percentage is stated.
- Nutrition. Per 100 g or 100 ml: energy in kJ and kcal, fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt.
- Very small packs. Where the largest surface is under 10 cm² the nutrition table falls away and the ingredient list may be given by other means or on request; the name, allergens, quantity and date stay on the pack.
The cost of a mistake is rarely the fine. It is the run: a label with a missing allergen is reprinted in full.
What to ask
- Who owns the wording — your technologist or a laboratory — and who signs off the final version?
- Does the chosen pack have room for every mandatory field, or does the label need to grow?
- How is the origin of the main ingredient handled when it comes from another country?
- Who keeps the source files when you change printer or add a flavour?
Fitting those fields onto the real pack is part of our packaging and labels work; the wording itself comes from you.