Labelling food products
Claims about nutritional and health content
Nutritional claims suggest that food products have beneficial nutritional properties. They include statements such as:
- low fat
- source of calcium
- high fibre
- reduced salt
- no added sugar
Health claims suggest a connection between food and health. They include statements like:
- good for you
- calcium helps maintain normal bones
- keeps you feeling fuller for longer
- helps improve concentration
Rules for nutritional and health claims
If you want to make nutrition or health claims for your foods you there is specific legislation you must comply with. This legislation requires claims to be authorised. This makes it easier to identify nutrition and health claims that you can justifiably use on a specific product. It is designed to:
- protect consumers from misleading or false claims
- harmonise rules across the different countries making it easier to trade
The regulation lists the claims that you can make for foods and the criteria your product must meet before you can make them.
In Northern Ireland, EU food law continues to apply as specified in the Northern Ireland Protocol. Food and feed products produced in NI or placed on the NI market need to comply with EU food law.