Ingredients listing on packaging
Discussion
I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find the ingredients lists on food packaging.
This ubiquitous "nutritional information" seems to always be fairly prominent but that's not what I'm interested in.
I'm not worried about "energy" and "fat" and the like - I want to know what other "stuff" unscrupulous food manufacturers are trying to sneak in to my body.
As an example, I had some Dorset Cereals' muesli this morning and the ingredients were listed on the bottom of the box ...
... I'm not exaggerating - I cannot read this without taking it under a bright reading light (I'm in my forties and currently don't require reading glasses).
If a food manufacturer's USP is how natural all their stuff is then you'd expect the ingredients list to be front and centre ... not hidden.
Just me?
Cheers,
Eric
This ubiquitous "nutritional information" seems to always be fairly prominent but that's not what I'm interested in.
I'm not worried about "energy" and "fat" and the like - I want to know what other "stuff" unscrupulous food manufacturers are trying to sneak in to my body.
As an example, I had some Dorset Cereals' muesli this morning and the ingredients were listed on the bottom of the box ...
... I'm not exaggerating - I cannot read this without taking it under a bright reading light (I'm in my forties and currently don't require reading glasses).
If a food manufacturer's USP is how natural all their stuff is then you'd expect the ingredients list to be front and centre ... not hidden.
Just me?
Cheers,
Eric
Looks OK to me, the law says:
(1) The particulars with which a food is required to be marked or labelled by these Regulations, or which appear on a menu, notice, ticket or label pursuant to these Regulations, shall be easy to understand, clearly legible and indelible and, when a food is sold to the ultimate consumer, the said particulars shall be marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible.
(2) Such particulars shall not in any way be hidden, obscured or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter.
(1) The particulars with which a food is required to be marked or labelled by these Regulations, or which appear on a menu, notice, ticket or label pursuant to these Regulations, shall be easy to understand, clearly legible and indelible and, when a food is sold to the ultimate consumer, the said particulars shall be marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible.
(2) Such particulars shall not in any way be hidden, obscured or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter.
As I work for a food manufacturer, and have been within technical/quality assurance for a good number of years, I hope I can be of a little use.
The regulations regarding declarations are very ambiguous, many large companies have successfully challenged the wording and so far the Food Standards Agency have given them a very loose reign.
An example is the claim of "100% natural ingredients" or "no artificial colours/preservatives". Generally speaking, this mean that those ingredients can have a proportion of artificial ingredients to make the actual ingredient listed. So long as (as an example) a preservative has something natural in it, the claim can still be made as the finished preservative is not deemed as artificial.
It's very complicated, and I personally dislike it immensely, but I would suggest that you ignore the declaration panel and just go for what you either trust or just like. Unless, of course, you write to the manufacturer requesting full list of not just ingredients, but the ingredients which make the ingredients.
The regulations regarding declarations are very ambiguous, many large companies have successfully challenged the wording and so far the Food Standards Agency have given them a very loose reign.
An example is the claim of "100% natural ingredients" or "no artificial colours/preservatives". Generally speaking, this mean that those ingredients can have a proportion of artificial ingredients to make the actual ingredient listed. So long as (as an example) a preservative has something natural in it, the claim can still be made as the finished preservative is not deemed as artificial.
It's very complicated, and I personally dislike it immensely, but I would suggest that you ignore the declaration panel and just go for what you either trust or just like. Unless, of course, you write to the manufacturer requesting full list of not just ingredients, but the ingredients which make the ingredients.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff