Everything You Wanted to Know About Food Labelling -

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The information given on food labels is intended to simply help consumers become savvy about their specific food choices. The front, back, and even sides of a package are packed with information to inform you what really the food contains and to offer proper guidance in making healthier selections of processed foods. However, it happens that all the numbers, even percentages, and at times complex-sounding ingredients can head to more complex than clarity. You can talk to the food product label manufacturers and ensure that you put the labels that are important for your food products.

Check out the infographic below to see what information your consumers want to see on product labels!

Infographic provided by Antares Health Products, a vitamin E TPGS manufacturer

The Nutrition Facts Label

Now, maybe you don’t know this, but the Nutrition Facts label is overseen by the overall U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and it was initially mandated under the Nutrition Labelling and Education Act of the year 1990 to aid the consumers in making swift, informed food selections. It has actually undergone revisions, with the advanced updates. Changes are most of the times based on updated scientific information and even input from the public related to the ease of use.

However, it is also true that with good nutritional labels come bad types of ones. Nutrition labelling mistakes happen all too often in manufacturing facilities across the world. Such are the mistakes that simply lead to financial loss for manufacturers because of recalled products and legal problems such as lawsuits from consumer groups or even individuals who were impacted by nutrition label imprecisions.

In addition to financial issues, nutrition labels even have the potential to simply impact and affect a company’s reputation. Most of the consumers are not aware of nutrition labelling mistakes until it is too late, ending up in negative press for food manufacturers that can actually head people to believe that they are vending the products with harmful ingredients or even wrong nutrition facts once this is not really true at all. Perhaps, it is the reason that you should hire only the right and effective printing manufacturers of the food labels to ensure that there isn’t any mistake.

Expiry dates

There are certain types of standards has been developed and implemented to make sure that there is safety throughout the entire food chain. Perishable foods, taken from a microbiological point of view (such as cooked meat products, even prepared foods and salads), showcase a ‘use by’ date on the package and must not be eaten after the given date, as this might actually present a health risk. In addition, many foods display a best before date, that simply gives an indication of “minimum durability, or the duration during which the food retains its particular properties when properly stored. In other words, a product that has the best before date has expired might still be safe to eat, but the manufacturer no longer actually guarantees the sensory properties of the product (e.g., Smell, taste, appearance etc). The food packaging labels manufacturers do ensure that they put proper information on the packaging.

Warnings related to Allergy

An important information on food labels encamps allergy warnings that actually assist the consumers who have particular food allergies, to avoid the allergens that could be present in particular food products. The requirement of putting allergy thing is to label them only when they are present. In other words, there will be no labelling of absence, if a product would be targeted at a population that has a particular allergy or food intolerance (e.g. That of gluten free).

Consumers having food allergies have reported spending so much more time on grocery shopping to get suitable products but sometimes have noticed a shortage of information about the inclusion of possible allergens in the food products they might like to eat. The point is once there are proper labelling of the allergens in the products, the parents of kids or adults can choose the products that are suitable for their health as per the allergy thing. What if a child has an allergy and the ingredients of a product trigger it in him? Of course, lack of data can be dangerous.

Storage, preparation & cooking data

Storage instructions are important on certain food products in combination with the proper expiry date to ensure careful handling by consumers. Food poisoning bacteria like Salmonella and Listeria can grow to degrees that may cause ailment if food is not stored rightly. These instructions could even indicate how to store the food when the package has been opened (e.g., Refrigerate after opening. Although consumers most of the times use storage conditions and preparation guidelines, it is somewhat usually only when they purchase a new product and not when it is somewhat a product they have previously purchased. The point is there are different studies that show that while consumers say that data on storage, preparation and cooking information of food on labels is critical, they might not use such an information quite often.

Tackling with Human Errors in Food Processing

Food processing include complicated steps and product formulas, and it is even not always possible to avoid any sort of errors in the production process. Once formulating food product recipes, there is always a sort of possibility for human error to emerge. The recipe of a company might call for an ingredient having the sub-standard nutrition facts or even no nutrition facts at all as it was accidentally added in place of another sort of similar item inside the factory.

This might take place or do due to incorrect mixing by production line workers, even lack of quality control measures taken during the time of formula development and testing, or just not having good enough internal communication between such parties involved in creating the final list of ingredients that get used in every single batch produced.

A single mistake in the recipe, mistakes in the mixing or even inspection of ingredients, and any number of bloopers during the manufacturing procedure are all possible. Manufacturers should act swiftly to correct any sort of problems that may arise, even if a mistake has been made. Making use of a nutrition label calculator adjustments can be really made to help minimize the general impact.