Deconstructing Foods Labels – Part 1 Required Information
There is a lot of information packed onto a food label. There are required items and other items that are voluntary. Some of the voluntary things seen on the front of the package could be there merely to help sell a product, such as when peanut butter claims it is gluten-free (it is, but then all peanut butter is).
There are regulations about what is required and the use of certain statements making specific claims.
Because this topic is so extensive, I am breaking it into several articles to cover the various aspects.
This article addresses what is REQUIRED by law on a food label. I will take a specific food as an example to know what the following statements mean.
Here is what is required if on all labels:
The name of the product/food – Prego Italian Sauce Traditional
The name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor – Campbell Soup Company, Camden, NJ, USA 08103-1701
The net contents in weight, measure, or count – Net Wt. 24 oz. (1 lb. 8 oz.) (680 g)
The nutrients contents in the form of the Nutrition Fact panel – I won’t get to the whole thing here, but you know this label with the nutrition information for the serving specified in this section. The Nutrition Facts panel will be the topic of soon-to-come articles.
The ingredients listed in descending order of predominance by weight and in ordinary language – tomato puree (water, tomato paste), diced tomato in tomato juice, etc.
Required warnings such as alerts about common allergens (there are 9) – this product does not have, nor does it declare that exposure to these nine common allergens.
Manufacturer, Packer, or Distributor
Some foods may be made or sourced outside of the USA. So, the manufacturer may differ from the distributor. Take coffee, for example. Most people don’t think about this, but your coffee probably wasn’t grown in the US, considering Hawai’i is the only state in the union that can grow coffee. But the address on your coffee package probably isn’t located in Costa Rica, Honduras, or Columbia. Still, it is a US distributor of that coffee (and may even be the roaster and packer).
So note that the address on the package does not always indicate the origin of the food. For example, a fruit may come from Chile, but the distributor is a US company whose address will appear on the label.
Ingredients List
The ingredients list may be can be simple or extensive.
For example, a package of dry rice states “rice”; Fritos Corn Chips with Corn, Corn Oil, and Salt and, the Beyond Burger has 22 ingredients.
The length of an ingredients list doesn’t indicate the nutritional value or whether something is “healthy.”
The number of ingredients also isn’t a commentary on the number of ingredients but noting that this does have to list all ingredients, including added vitamins, minerals, thickeners, binders, preservatives, added flavors, and added colorings. These ingredients aren’t always a “bad” thing. For example, binders can include potato starch, preservatives can consist of salt or lemon juice, and foods may use beet juice for color. There are all kinds of reasons for using various ingredients, so don’t always assume this is a negative thing.
Common Allergens
For food safety for those with food allergies, a declaration of the most common food allergens is required. The declaration includes the eight most common allergens on a food label as of this writing. These include:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Wheat (this is not the same as gluten)
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Soy
Under the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act of 2021 (FASTER Act), sesame is now on the list of major food allergens for which labeling disclosures are mandatory. By January 1, 2023, food companies must declare the presence of sesame on food packaging labels. Almost a year out, that date only gives food companies time to update their labels with this new requirement. Before this date, declaring sesame may be there or not, but always double-check if a family member has this allergy.
And most people do not realize that an allergy to fish is not the same as a shellfish allergy. These are two different allergens. People may have to avoid shellfish but not avoid finfish. Additionally, peanuts are legumes and not nuts, so these are also different allergens.
Additionally, even if a food does not explicitly contain these allergens but may have the risk of exposure to these 8-9 common allergens, it is also declared.
There will be no declaration if the food does not have any of these allergens or potential exposure to these allergens. It is only required if there is the risk of the food/product having an allergen.
