New food-labelling law 'will deprive consumers'

Experts say consumers could lose out on valuable product information because food labelling legislation has made the publication of nutritional information on packaging much more complex and costly.

To print a nutrition table with a breakdown of how much fat, salt or carbohydrates are in the food, manufacturers now have to do intensive and costly testing of the food every three years.

Previously, manufacturers would estimate the nutritional data from the ingredients. They are now forbidden to do this. So, since offering nutritional informa-tion is voluntary, many will simply remove it from their labels.

Nicky Edwards, product developer for Ina Paarman Foods, explained the process: "Nutritional information in the absence of a product claim is not required.

"The reality is that many manufacturers will simply no longer include nutritional information on their product labels because of the cost and renewal every 36 months, which is ultimately to the disadvantage of the consumer."

Food consultant Norah-Ann Hayes agreed.

"The drawback of requiring testing for many products is that companies are not going to declare the nutrition information, especially smaller manufacturers.

"In addition to the lab testing, this needs to be done every three years, so the cost is not a once-off."

But Hayes said the law was necessary

"This is unfortunate but the previous method of calculating nutritional information was not accurate."

Hayes said consumers who wanted to know how healthy the product was and the quantities of sugar, salt and carbohydratescould check the ingredients list.

"If fat or sugar are near the top of the ingredients list it is going to be a high-kilojoule product. If salt is high up it is going to be a high-sodium product."

Under the food labelling law, products cannot contain the word "natural".

This means that products that use natural flavours instead of synthetics cannot indicate this to the consumer on the packaging.

On labels

Be aware of what's in what you eat

THOUGH the Department of Health has been criticised by dieticians for not educating people about new food- labelling laws it is ultimately up to consumers to be aware of what they are eating.

Food consultant Norah-Ann Hayes said a study by the European Food Information Council found that only 25% of Europeans looked at nutritional information on packaging. She said the figure in South Africa was similar.

Hayes and other health experts urge people to read food labels.

The following is information that should appear on a food label:

• If a product is marketed as a "chocolate chip cookie", the manufacturer must say what percentage of chocolate chips are in the biscuit. The percentage of the main ingredient must be given;

The presence of allergens (such as eggs, nuts, wheat), thought to be the biggest cause of food-related illness, must be clearly indicated. Generic descriptions such as preservatives, additives, vegetable oils are not sufficient. The specific preservatives, oils and ingredients used must be listed: for example, not "vegetable oil" but "palm-kernel oil".

• Ingredients must be listed in descending order of quantity;
• Nutritional claims such as low fat and low GI must to backed-up with evidence;
• Misleading marketing words such as "healthy", "wholesome" and "natural" are banned;
• Storage instructions must be given; and
• Expiry dates and country of origin must be given.

On water

Diluting the facts

HOW does a drink that contains about 28g of sugar, about six teaspoonsful, get away with a healthy-sounding name like "vitamin water"?

This is a question many dieticians, who feel the name is misleading, are asking given the strictness of food labelling legislation.

Thanks to marketing and lawyers, the name of the popular colourful drink vitamin water is legal. It uses the trademark "Glaceau vitamin water" as a name but is registered as a "fruit-flavoured drink".

Regulations on bottled water insist that it has to be colourless and without added flavourants or sugars.

Vitamin water does not comply because it is not registered as a water.

Coca-Cola spokesman Zipporah Maubane says: "It is important to clarify that the trademark is Glaceau vitamin water. It is clear that our Glaceau vitamin water product is classified as a fruit-flavoured drink."

How fat-free is your food?

IF IT is claimed that a product is "low fat" it probably is, thanks to the food-labelling laws.

A product marked low fat may contain no more than 3% fat and a low-fat drink or other liquid may have only 1.5% fat - that is unless you are eating a dairy product which, because it is an agricultural product, is regulated by different laws.

Low-fat milk has 2.5% fat but low-fat cottage cheese has a minimum fat content of 24%.