Food Packaging Law

  Similar to storage instructions, if there are any special instructions for preparation of the product before it is used, these must be printed on the label. They can range from simplistic, “place in saucepan and heat on hob for 5 minutes” to long complex cooking instructions. All methods that can be used to prepare the food must be covered.

  For malteasers, there are no special instructions and it would be unrealistic for them to print “put in mouth and  chew” or something to that effect. Therefore, there is nothing on the malteasers label concerning this area.

Other items included on the food label:

  There are several more items I would like to look at in this report concerning the malteasers. The first is weight marking. All pre-packed foods need to be marked with a weight. In this case, the bag of malteasers is marked with 37g. This allows for some variance if the package is from a larger package. So if a multi-pack of four was bought, then all four added together must equal the sum of four times 37g. However some individual bags may be just under, or just over 37g.

  The large small case ‘e’ is on the label of the malteasers. This allows for unchecked passage throughout the European Union.

   There are also two symbols next to the weight and small case ‘e’. The first is called the “green dot” and this shows that a fee has been paid for the recovery of the packaging in some European countries. The second is there just to make the consumer think about discarding the packaging of the product appropriately. In this case, in a litter bin.

  The use of imagery of a product on packaging must be fair and must be appropriate. It would be unfair to the consumer to advertise the product on the packaging and then when it is opened, the product is completely different. In this case, the manufacturer have used an accurate representation of their product and the consumer could not claim to be disappointed based on this picture.

  There is now a requirement by law for a manufacturer to display allergy warnings for 12 food items within the EU. It is expected that a warning for the ingredients would be displayed if they were used in the product. However, is the ingredient has been processed to a point were it in no longer capable of causing an allergic reaction, then a warning does not have to be displayed. The manufacturer of the malteasers has not included any information separate to the ingredients in regards to allergy details. Therefore a consumer could expect the product to be safe to eat if they did not have any allergies to the ingredients listed. The only extra piece of information separate to the ingredients on the label that may be of importance to some consumers says “Milk chocolate contains vegetable fats in addition to cocoa butter.

Claims and Nutritional Information

   There is no regulated requirement to display nutritional information of food products. However, in the current public climate, it is in the best interests for the manufacturer to display nutritional information, just so their consumers feel that they have some control and are aware of what they are eating.

  However, in the case of a manufacturer making a nutritional claim about their product, further information must be included on the labelling. Certain claims are prohibited such as claims that suggest a food has tonic properties or suggesting that foods could treat, cure or prevent human disease. Some claims are regulated, such as claims about low or reduced energy content or vitamins that are present in the food. In these cases, it must be made clear how much is in the product, and in the case of vitamins then 1/6 of the recommended daily allowance must be in 100 ml/g of the food before the claim is even allowed to be made.

  The malteasers label has on the front underneath the word ‘malteasers’, “Less than 190 calories per pack!”. Therefore, the manufacturer is required to include nutritional information on the label. They have done so as on the reverse of the packet there is a table titled ‘nutritional information’. In this table, they have included information regarding energy, protein, carbohydrates and fat. We can see that they are given to a per 100g of the product, and also the 37g pack size. The 100g or ml etc must be included if the nutritional information is going to be given regardless of pack size. We can see that there are 187 kcal’s per 37g of the product and so their claim on the labelling can be included.

   By assessing the Mars Malteasers packaging, we can see that the manufacturer is acting within the law, and the rules as set out by the Food Labelling Regulations 1996, apart from a few minor discrepancies regarding the percentage of chocolate and also the type of chocolate used. These are not contrary to the regulations, however, may cause slight confusion to some consumers.