Mar. 12 2024
Source Page: Fairer food labellingFound: Fairer food labelling
Mar. 12 2024
Source Page: Consultation launched to make food labelling fairer and clearerFound: Consultation launched to make food labelling fairer and clearer
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: EM on EU legislation on organic pet food labelling (33/23 Rev 1)Found: EM on EU legislation on organic pet food labelling (33/23 Rev 1)
Apr. 25 2024
Source Page: EM on EU legislation on organic pet food labelling (33/23 Rev 1)Found: EM on EU legislation on organic pet food labelling (33/23 Rev 1)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she will make an assessment of the adequacy of food labelling for people with allergies.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food. The United Kingdom maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including food allergen labelling.
All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, so that people who have allergies and intolerances are able to make safe food choices. The FSA carries out a range of research to ensure that this information is clear and accurate. It has recently carried out an evaluation of the prepacked for direct sale food labelling requirements introduced in 2021, and updated food labelling technical guidance for businesses following a consultation with consumers and food businesses on the application and understanding of allergen labelling.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to help improve the (a) clarity and (b) accuracy of allergen information on food labelling.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food. The United Kingdom maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for food safety and food hygiene in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including food allergen labelling.
All food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, so that people who have allergies and intolerances are able to make safe food choices. The FSA carries out a range of research to ensure that this information is clear and accurate. It has recently carried out an evaluation of the prepacked for direct sale food labelling requirements introduced in 2021, and updated food labelling technical guidance for businesses following a consultation with consumers and food businesses on the application and understanding of allergen labelling.
Require "Gluten" be listed as an allergen on food labelling
- 268 Signatures
(Estimated Final Signatures: 338 - 1 added in the past 24hrs)
Currently food labelling has to include bold lettering for barley, wheat, rye and oats. These are gluten containing ingredients, but gluten itself does not have to be mentioned. This can be confusing for coeliac sufferers and those providing food or drinks to coeliac sufferers.
Found: However, gluten itself is not required to be listed on food labels, just the items that contain gluten
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that food businesses adhere to food labelling standards for items (a) containing common allergens and (b) marketed as (i) vegetarian and (ii) vegan.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food businesses selling food in the UK must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for specific information to be presented in a specific way. For example, food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide accurate information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, so that people who have allergies and intolerances can make safe food choices.
While there are no specific rules covering information on the suitability of food for vegetarians or vegans, the requirement that food information must not mislead consumers applies to such labels as for other voluntary labels.
It is the duty of Local Authorities to enforce food safety and labelling regulations, to help ensure food is safe for people living with a food allergy. The Food Standards Agency have agreements and protocols in place to support local authorities in their work and give guidance to explain the regulations and how they can be applied to food businesses.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to increase the information provided by food labelling.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the Secretary of State discussed in his speech at the Oxford Farming conference, we think there is an opportunity to improve transparency for consumers and ensure fairness for producers, so consumers can be fully confident about what they’re buying. We therefore intend to launch a rapid consultation on clearer labelling.
The consultation will explore options for improving method of production labelling and country-of-origin labelling.
It will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards, and, in terms of country-of-origin labelling, look at improving how and where origin information is displayed - including for minimally processed meat, such as bacon and ham - and what products should be in scope.
The exact details of the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of 'Not for EU' labelling requirements on small and medium-sized food producers who (a) export to the European Union and (b) sell within the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 October 2023, The UK Government introduced The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme to simplify movements of retail goods from GB to NI. To use the scheme businesses need to apply ‘Not for EU’ labelling to their goods.
As a result, these businesses, including small and medium-sized food producers, benefit from significantly reduced certification requirements.
The Government has also launched the £50m Windsor Framework Transitional Labelling Financial Assistance Scheme to support businesses in adjusting to these changes.