You can potentially learn a lot from a food label: fat content, sodium level, what additives have been used and what allergens to look out for, among other things.
But until the new food regulations were gazetted in March 2010, clever marketeers often used food labels to convince us of a whole plethora of product benefits – some of which never existed at all!
That’s going to change, but because every food label in South Africa has to change, it will take a while. The final date for the new food labelling and advertising regulations coming into force is March 2012. Be ready for the change with our easy to follow food labelling guide:
7. Nutrient content claims
For many years food manufacturers have been making nutrient content claims that describe the level of a nutrient contained in a food such as “high in calcium” or “source of fibre”. Under the new regulations, these will be strictly controlled with specific conditions and clearly defined wording to avoid misuse and clever marketing phrases! For example, if a product claims “low in saturated fat” then, if it is a solid food, it must contain no more than 1.5g per 100g of saturated fat, and that saturated fat cannot contribute more than 10 percent of the total energy of the food. It might sound confusing, but if enforced, you can be sure that the nutrient content claims you see on foods, are truly delivering on their promised health benefit. It is important to know that the only words to be used for these types of claims are “free from”, “virtually free from”, “very low in”, “low in” or “source of”, “high in”, “very high in”.
Gone are words such as “rich in”, “excellent source of”, “good source of”, “enriched with”, “with added”.
A big no-no is the use of the term “X% fat-free”, which has been abused by many manufacturers for years.
8. Comparative claims
Comparative claims between products will be allowed, under tightly controlled conditions. The big advantage is that should a manufacturer have developed a food that has a significantly reduced level of the nutritional ‘baddies’ (total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, salt, energy or alcohol) compared to other similar products, they will now be able to tell the consumer on the label.
- The manufacturer must state clearly which food is being compared as well as the amounts being compared e.g. 1 slice of this specific whole-wheat bread with 1 slice of other whole-wheat breads
- They must state the difference as a percentage of at least 25% e.g. 1 slice of this whole-wheat bread contains 30% less salt than other whole-wheat breads
- It must provide the relevant nutritional information for the product as well as the product it is being compared with e.g. the nutritional information table must show the salt content of this whole-wheat bread as well as the salt content of other whole-wheat breads.
9. Other claims
The current regulation does not permit other health claims such as nutrient function claims; glycaemic index claims such as ‘low GI’; pre- or pro-biotic claims; reduction of disease risk claims, and many more. These claims will fall under a separate regulation following a more detailed investigation. The new regulations have also tightened up significantly on endorsements of food products by people, organisations and foundations, unless approved by the Department of Health – again in the interests of protecting the consumer and ensuring that health promotion messages are evidence-based and reliable.
10. NRVs replace RDAs
Most of us understand that RDA stands for Recommended Daily/Dietary Allowance – the recommended daily dietary intake level of a nutrient. When you consume 100% of the RDA of a specific nutrient in a day, you are likely to have met your basic daily need for that nutrient. You will now see on food labels the term NRV, rather than RDA. Nutrient Reference Values means almost the same thing, but the terminology is more accurate for nutrition experts.
These new regulations have closed a number of loopholes previously used by food manufacturers, and give more detail and greater transparency to people like you and me, provided that we take note of what they mean and learn how to use them to make healthful food choices. At the end of the day it is up to ensure that the foods we eat, contribute towards our health and that ultimate goal of a well-balanced, varied diet that is part of a total healthy lifestyle.
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