Use of terms such as natural, fresh etc. in food labelling

Thursday 12 February 2004

In July 2002, the Agency issued criteria for the use of the terms Fresh, Pure, Natural etc in labelling. It followed recommendations from the Food Advisory Committee, and a public consultation on draft guidance.

The guidance covers the terms Fresh, Natural, Pure, Traditional, Original, Authentic, Home made and Farmhouse, setting out the criteria under which the use of such terms may be helpful to the consumer, and instances in which their use may mislead consumers and should be avoided.

The purpose of this survey was to examine the extent to which manufacturers are taking account of the guidance, and to examine whether additions to the guidance might usefully be made, to enable more effective enforcement.

The feedback from participants is that the guidance is generally welcomed by enforcement staff, who see it as consumer oriented and helpful.

The survey sampled 220 food products, the labelling of which included one or more of the terms covered by the guidance. Informal samples were collected mainly at retail outlets throughout the UK, by enforcement officers. The samples were then examined by Public Analysts, to establish whether the use of the labelling terms was justified in view of the advice in the guidance.

Of the 220 samples examined, 88 (40%) were considered by the participating public analysts not to comply with the guidance, (see table below). The high level of non-compliance encountered in the survey is a clear indication that these labelling terms continue to be used in a way that is potentially misleading to consumers.

Terms	Products sampled	Adverse results	Percentage adverse
Fresh	26	7	27%
Natural	23	8	35%
Pure	11	1	9%
Traditional	75	33	44%
Original	25	10	40%
Authentic	15	2	13%
Home Made	21	9	43%
Farmhouse	24	18	75%
Total	220	88	40%