Labels that say it all

However, more enlightening product labelling is not purely a consumer-driven demand. In Europe, the new Food Information Regulation (FIR) requires more transparency on country of origin and nutritional contents.

This includes:

• Allergen information on all food, whether sold pre-packed or loose
  
• Labelling drinks with high caffeine content as not recommended for children or pregnant and breastfeeding women
  
• Stating the added water content of meat and fish products that look like a cut, joint or slice but contain more than 5% added water
  
• Stating the type of vegetable oil that a product contains (if it contains vegetable oil)

The South African Government also recently published R. 429: a draft amendment to the new regulations concerning the labelling of foodstuffs, cosmetics and disinfectants. Products in these categories are now required to display more comprehensive ingredient information on their labels; as well as follow strict guidelines concerning the legibility of this communication. The aim is to standardise the communication of product ingredients across the board so that consumers can compare products more easily.

While these changes have clear benefits for consumers - they put immense pressure on brand owners and manufacturers to find more space on their product packaging for this mandatory information. This also needs to be achieved without impacting on legibility and clarity of communication.

One solution to this challenge is the informational Fix-a-Form® range of extended text labels from Pyrotec PackMedia. These extended text labels enable manufacturers to multiple the area used for communication on-pack several times over, in a clear and legible way. Moreover, Fix-a-Form® extended text labels are easy to apply using standard label machinery, without interrupting production lines.

For more advice and information, contact Pyrotec PackMedia today.