Starting from December 13, foods and food supplements exported by Serbian businesses to the markets of the European Union will have be labeled in full compliance with the new EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.
The regulation lays down rules on the labeling, presentation and advertising of pre-packed and loose foods to ensure a high level of consumer protection with accurate, clear and easy to understand information about foodstuffs.
One of the most significant changes coming with the implementation of the EU regulation is the obligation to emphasize all ingredients which cause allergies from the other ingredients within the ingredients lists by means of contrasting font, size, style or background color.
Food allergen labeling and information requirements under the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation No. 1169/2011 require all written mandatory allergenic information to be easily visible, clearly legible and not obscured in any way. Mandatory information should be not hidden for example under a flap or across a fold or crease, detracted from or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter or any other intervening material.
The labeling must include declarations of the country of origin and provenance of foods and the shelf-life of foodstuffs is to be indicated in a special way.
The name of the food needs to include or be accompanied by particulars concerning the physical condition of the food or the specific treatment which it has undergone in all cases where omission of such information could mislead the purchaser.
Where foods or food ingredients have substances such as caffeine, phytosterols and a number of other substances added to them, one or more particulars about them have to be given to instruct the purchaser about possible side-effects of consumption.
“There are really a lot of changes, and the implementation of this regulation leaves the producers unable to intentionally or unintentionally mislead consumers,” says Danica Zaric, director of Belgrade-based food research institution IHIS Nutricionizam and a member of the working group for drafting a nutrition and health claims regulation in Serbia.
She stressed that Serbia’s food exporters had to thoroughly check the labels on their products unless they were sure the declarations were in full compliance with the new EU rules, as “the most expensive product is the one awaiting at the border.”
Zaric points out that the application date for the changes in the general labeling rules in the EU Regulation 1169/2011, excluding Articles 30-35, concerning the rules on the mandatory nutrition declaration needed for most pre-packaged foods, is December 13, 2014. The rules for Articles 30-35 will start to apply from December 13, 2016.
However, if a nutrition or health declaration is provided with the product or it has vitamins and minerals added to it, provisions of the EU Regulation 1169/2011 including Articles 30-35 will start to apply from December 13 this year as well, she said.
Serbia’s regulation on food labeling, presentation and advertising complies with EU Regulation 1169/2011 to a great extent, but its application date is April 2015, as Serbia’s declarations are still undergoing changes, according to a release from IHIS Nutricionizam, member of the IHIS Science and Technology Park Zemun.
Tanjug
