Ireland issues multi-lingual food labelling guidance

The General Labelling of Pre-Packaged Food aims to clearly communicate Ireland's existing labeling regulations, which have been particularly difficult for non English-speaking nations to meet. Until now, the labeling guidance has only been available in English. This updated version has now been published in nine other languages. "A lot of traders are from other parts of the world and didn't have an understanding of what the labeling requirements were, so they didn't have their products labeled appropriately," said Jeff Moon, chief specialist of environmental health at FSAI. "There are no major changes in the guidelines, we've just tried to make them as clear as possible by providing them in different languages," he told FoodNavigator.com. According to Moon, the aim of food labelling is to provide consumers with key information on the properties, ingredients, nature and characteristics of pre-packaged food to enable them to make informed food purchasing decisions. "Food businesses should provide sufficient information, accurately and clearly, to enable consumers to select products according to their needs; to store and prepare them appropriately and to consume them safely," he said. Moon said that labels must be clear, accurate and unambiguous, and they must not make misleading or false claims. Language Food labels in Ireland must be in English. Although a second language, including Irish, may also be used, English must always be used. The new guidance leaflet is available in Arabic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian and Urdu. Labelling in Ireland According to Irish legislation, pre-packaged foods must include the following mandatory information on the label: To access the labeling guidance leaflets in all languages, click here .

Ireland issues multi-lingual food labelling guidance

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has published new labelling guidance for food manufacturers, which it hopes will help international companies meet the nation's labeling requirements.

Related Topics