Labelling and Packaging

The Food Standards Agency is concerned not only with the food we eat but with what it is sold in and how that is labelled.

The Agency is responsible for making sure that the rules on the safety of materials that come into contact with food are enforced. Food contact materials include the containers food is sold in, the packaging, as well as the articles used to handle food, from food processing machinery to cutlery.

Food labels are a useful source of information, primarily to inform and protect consumers. Much of the Agency's current work on labelling is to help make sure that people get the information they need in an understandable form.

Visit our consumer advice website eatwell for more information about how to read labels, plus an explanation of what the most common terms on food labels mean. Details of our day-to-day work, including policy, research, guidance and campaigns, are set out below.