Consumer

‘Free from’ in etiquette, The ABC.

February 24, 2018

The indications ‘

free from

‘ o ‘

without.

.’, on food labels, reap acclaim among European consumers. Who are increasingly looking for ‘GMO-free’ products.

e ‘

palm oil free

‘. The ABCs of rules.

Table of Contents

‘
Free from
‘, ‘
Without
…’, ABC of rules in etiquette

EU Regulation 1169/11 clearly defines the conditions of use of voluntary food claims. (1)

Information regarding the absence of certain ingredients or substances-‘free from…’ or ‘without…’ – on commonly used food labels have always been considered permissible. (2) Provided some simple rules are followed, of which the ABCs are summarized.

A)
Nutrition & Health Claims.
. Where news items fall under the definitions of nutritional claims (e.g., ‘fat-free’, ‘sugar-free’) or health claims (e.g., ‘more digestible because without…’), (3) they must be checked for compliance with appropriate criteria. In relation to both the composition and nutritional properties of the food and the information scheme. (4)

B) Gluten and lactose

. Where reporting is subject to specific requirements (e.g. ‘

gluten-reduced

‘, ‘lactose-free’) special criteria must be followed. (5)

C) Fair information practices. Outside the cases of subjection to specific regulations, the principles introduced 39 years ago in the general regulations on food labeling and advertising, most recently recalled (6) in the Food Information Regulation, apply:

– messages must be truthful and where appropriate based on relevant scientific data. This means that the responsible operator (7) must be able to prove the case with objective evidence, (8)

– optional information, like mandatory information, must be displayed in a way that is clear and understandable to the average consumer, without ambiguity. It is not permissible to refer to categories of ingredients not covered by the current rules, (9)

– it is forbidden to emphasize characteristics of the food that are instead common to all other foods in the same category, as is often the case with ‘gluten-free’ even camping out on sweetened tea infusions. A real deception to consumers, which should therefore be sanctioned.

Dario Dongo

Notes

(1) See reg. EU 1169/2011, Art. 36

(2) Already under the previous directives 1979/112/EEC and 2000/13/EC, on the basis of established European and national case law, which has also been confirmed in the pronouncements of the authorities designated to the controls on the fairness of commercial practices (under dir. 2005/29/EC)

(3) See the definitions of nutrition claim and health claim in reg. EC 1924/06, Article 2

(4) See reg. EC 1924/06, reg. EU 432/12 as amended

(5) In the first example, reg. EU 828/14. Instead, statements regarding the absence of lactose must come with data on the presence and/or amount of galactose, as clarified by the Ministry of Health in note 4.4.16

(6) See reg. EU 1169/11, Articles 7 and 36

(7) The operator responsible for the information is the owner of the brand under which the food is marketed. V. reg. EU 1169/11, Article 8

(8) Objectivity is also required when referring to organoleptic qualities or consumer appreciation (to be demonstrated by panel tests and surveys)

(9) Ex. chemical additives, category not covered by reg. EC 1333/08