Do you know the value of a packaging label?

Have you ever bought a packaged food product from the market and read the label on it ?? At least how long can we keep the product? In short, have you even looked at the expiration date .. ?? A lot of people don’t really do this…There is a legal requirement that each package must have a label, which allows the manufacturer as well as the consumer to know a great deal about the food product you are consuming. By presenting this article, I hope to show you how this label can help you who make regular purchases of food products to make the right decisions when choosing health-safe as well as nutritious food.

Why are food packaging labels important?

Food labels are a legal requirement and are important for many reasons. It helps consumers make the right choice about the food they buy, helps them store and use it safely, and allows customers to plan when they will consume it. All this helps to reduce food waste.

Legal requirements for packaging

As a food manufacturer, you are legally required to properly label all your products. Failure to do so can have serious consequences.

Labels on pre-packaged foods should include the following:

• Name of the food

This should be a true representation of your product and should not be counterfeit or misleading.

• List of Ingredients

You should use ‘Ingredients’ as the title and list the ingredients used to make the product in the order of weight.

• Percentage of some Ingredients

 If you emphasize any ingredient in the packaging of your product, the quantity of this ingredient should be stated as a percentage of the ingredient list. For example: In a product like chicken burgers, the percentage of chicken (75%). This is also necessary if the yogurt packaging highlights the ingredient with a picture or graphic like a cartoon strawberry or if you want to distinguish the product.

• Net weight

Here is the weight of the food.

• Instruction for Use

This is not mandatory and can be included as needed. This includes cooking utensils, temperature, cooking time, and other specific instructions for preparing food.

•  Exp Date/ Best Before Date/Best By

By placing these dates on products, helps consumers store and use their food safely as well as minimize food waste.

• Instruction for Store

These tips help customers store products safely before and after opening the packaging, ensuring that they are in good condition for consumption. For example: ‘Store in a cool dry place. Once opened, refrigerate and consume within 3 days. ’’

• Contact details

Enter the country of business, the name of the business, and the contact address. Some people are more concerned about this than other essentials in the diet when buying food. Especially the brand name. As a result, some manufacturers try to deceive consumers by using brand names and logos/symbols that are close to the ones most commonly used by consumers for their products. So it is very important that you read the label carefully when you buy food.

• Nutrition / Dietary Advice

Since 2016, it has become a legal requirement for food companies to display nutritional information on the back of all pre-packaged foods. It ensures that food producers fulfill their legal obligations, as well as nutritional information to help consumers live healthier, longer lives…

• 

You consumers seem to be paying more attention to nutritional information now than ever before. This is especially true when foodborne illness and health problems are on the rise. So many people choose the most nutritious options and it is the responsibility of food manufacturers to accurately inform them about the nutrition and dietary information of all the food items they buy.

Eating a diet high in saturated fat, salt and sugar can lead to several health problems. These include:

• 

Management High blood pressure

A diet high in saturated fat and salt can cause high blood pressure. Therefore, it is important to label food products with salt and saturated fat to help consumers eat a healthy, balanced diet. This is especially important for those who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and can consciously avoid certain foods to reduce their salt and fat content.

Management Obesity

Eating a diet high in calories, sugar, and saturated fat and not getting enough exercise can lead to obesity. Between 1993 and 2015, obesity increased by 15%. Therefore, it is essential that consumers have the option to monitor their nutritional value and the amount they should consume.

Heart disease

Fat deposits on the artery walls can block a person’s arteries. This can lead to a blood clot, which can lead to a heart attack if the arteries that supply blood to the heart are blocked by blood clots. Heart disease can have serious consequences and an unhealthy diet is directly linked to several risk factors..

Other reasons why consumers need nutritional/dietary information

Depending on personal or religious beliefs, some people decide not to eat certain products. Therefore, they should be able to easily identify any raw material they are avoiding.

Specific dietary requirements

Consumers may experience unpleasant or harmful side effects if they consume a product with allergies. People with food allergies can face serious consequences if they eat foods they are allergic to, so they should be very careful about the food they eat. If someone accidentally eats food with allergies, it can cause an allergic reaction and in some cases can be severe and even life-threatening.If you suffer from allergies, you should definitely be tempted to read the label.

Medical conditions

Some medical conditions, such as diabetes, require people to know the exact content of certain food components. This will enable them to gain a better understanding of the unhealthy food components in the diet and to avoid them.

What you need to understand here is that a package contains a label for your needs. So when you buy something you have to be more careful about it. Because you buy that food to get you and your family a healthy meal. But because of your carelessness, you and your family will face many problems. So when buying food, be sure to look at the label on the package without being deceived by the beauty or the brand name.

It is also the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide accurate information on a label, and failure to do so is a punishable offense.

References

• Importance of food labeling as a mean of information and traceability according to consumers | Advances in Horticultural Science (fupress.net)
• Impact of Food Labeling Information on Consumer Purchasing Decision: With Special Reference to Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (core.ac.uk)

For more articles visit https://foodchess.com/