unique facts about food label
Food label illustration
The food business will continue to thrive as long as humans are alive. Therefore, many people sell foods such as fast food, instant food, healthy food, processed food, and so on. To attract consumers, usually food is packaged in attractive packaging. If we look closely at the food packaging, there is always a food label inside.
According to the BPOM (Indonesia’s National Food and Drug Agency) guidelines, food labels are descriptions of processed food in the form of pictures, writing, a combination of both, or other forms that are included in processed food, inserted into, affixed to, or are part of food packaging. Many of us know about food labels, but not many pay attention to them. It’s time we start paying attention to food labels because there are some facts that we rarely know. Here are some of them:
- Must be written and printed in Indonesian
If the food is sold in Indonesia, then the food label on the packaging must be written in Bahasa.
. - Required information
According to the BPOM guidelines, food labels must include the name of the product (including type name and trade name if any), list of materials used, net weight or net content, name and address of the party producing or importing, halal for those required, date and production code, expiry date, distribution permit number, origin of certain food ingredients, Nutritional Value Information, 2D Barcode, and other information required in accordance with the laws and regulations.
. - Food Composition
List of food compositions turns out to be sequentially from the food ingredients that have the largest content in the product, followed by the 2nd most content, and so on.
. - Allergen
If the food product contains allergen ingredients or is produced using the same production equipment as processed food that contains allergens, it must be included in the food label. Usually the allergen material is printed in bold or italics on food labels.
. - Expired Date
Food products that have an expiration date of less than 3 months must state the date, month and year of expiration. As for food products that have a shelf life of more than 3 months, it is sufficient to include the month and year.
. - Nutritional value information is prohibited in this product
It turns out that the products of ground coffee, powdered tea, tea bags, bottled water (dew water, mineral water, demineralized water), herbs, spices, seasonings, and condiments may not include nutritional value information on the food label. As for alcoholic beverages, information on nutritional values is prohibited from being included on the food label.
. - Inclusion of Alcohol Level
Processed food with added alcohol is required to state the percentage of alcohol content in a section that is easy to see and/or read. The alcohol content in the product is listed based on the results of the analysis.
. - Nutrient Number
Nutrient numbers on food labels are rounded numbers. Each nutrient has a different rounding method. For example, 0 kcal energy does not mean that the product does not contain energy at all, but the energy contained in the food is less than 5 kcal per serving. Likewise with total fat, if it is written 0 it does not mean the food does not contain fat, but the fat content is less than 0.5 grams per serving.
. - All food label provisions do not apply to food that is packaged in front of the buyer.
unique facts about food label