By the World Consumer Rights Day
When you buy products in store, how often do you look at the label? Usually, most of us do not have time to read the information, small print, and we choose the products of famous brands, who saw in an advertisement or heard from acquaintances.
manufacturers, providers, importers are our lack of time and lack of attention. Ingredients write unreadable font, “overlooked” Report preservatives, dyes and other food additives, placed on the beautiful label promotional pictures, that the product has nothing to do. And we end up buying “nut cream” without nuts, “strawberry yogurt” without strawberries, “fruit muesli” without fruit.
To protect consumers, developed requirements for the labeling of food products to the standards and technical regulations, acting not only in our country, but also on the whole territory of the Customs Union. One of such technical regulations of the Customs Union is TR CU 022/2011 “Food products in terms of their labeling”, which provides, that labeling should be clear, easy to read and reliable, it should not mislead buyers, and all the inscriptions, signs, symbols on it should be in contrast to the background on which the marking is applied.
Labeling of packaged food products must contain the following information: name of food products; composition; quantity; date of manufacture and expiration date; storage conditions; name and location of the manufacturer or the person authorized by the manufacturer, If there are any; manufacturer's legal addresses, importer and other authorized persons; recommendations and (or) usage restrictions, including cooking methods, if, without these recommendations or restrictions, the use of food products can be difficult or harm the health of the consumer; nutritional indicators; information on the presence of components in food products, obtained using genetically modified organisms; a single sign of product circulation on the market of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
The packaging of any food product must have the symbol (drawing 1), denoting, that it is intended for contact with food.
Components cannot be specified in the name of food products, if they or products of their processing are not included in its composition. The components included in the composition are indicated in descending order of their mass fraction. I.e, eg, if beef is in the first place in the sausage, means, the composition should contain the most beef, not chicken or soy. The composition can be omitted in relation to: fresh fruit, berries and vegetables; vinegar from one type of raw material; one-component food products, given that, that the name of the food allows you to establish the presence of this component (eg, eggs or flour).
The following components and products of their processing must be indicated on the labeling of food products in the composition of the following components present in any quantities: peanut, aspartame, mustard, sulfur dioxide (sulfites), if their ≥ 10 mg / kg(l), cereals, containing gluten, sesame, lupine, shellfish, crustaceans, fish, milk (including lactose), nuts, celery, soy, eggs. This is due to the fact, that a person may be allergic to these components.
Nowadays, rarely what products get on our table fresh, straight from the garden. Mostly, we eat food, processed with various food additives (preservatives, antioxidants, dyes, flavor enhancers (scent) and flavors (flavorings). They make our food look and taste more attractive., allow you to keep food fresh for a long time. Food additives are usually labeled with the letter E and three numbers. (eg, E320). List of food additives, permitted for use in the production of food products, given in the technical regulation of the Customs "Requirements for the safety of food additives, flavors and technological aids " TR TS 029/2012.
The presence of food additives and flavorings in food products must be indicated on the labeling of food products.. In the presence of food additives in the composition, its functional purpose should be indicated. (acidity regulator, stabilizer, emulsifier, etc.. P.). There are several nutritional supplements, about the presence of which in the product you need be sure to warn consumers:
- sweeteners (sugar substitutes), in this case, an inscription is required “Contains sweetener (sweeteners). Overuse may (may) have a laxative effect”;
- aspartame and aspartame-acesulfame salts, although they are also sweeteners, but posted separately, as it is absolutely contraindicated in patients with phenylketonuria. Mandatory inscription “Contains a source of phenylalanine”.
- dyes azorubine E122, quinoline yellow E104, yellow “sunny sunset” FCF Е110, charming red AC E129, Ponceau 4R E124 and Tartrazine E102 must be accompanied by the inscription: “Contains dye (dyes), which the (which) can (may) have a negative impact on the activity and attention of children”.
Food manufacturers often place, eg, on the label of mayonnaise lettuce photo, on the label of ketchup - a photo of shish kebab, on a box with pasta - the image of the finished dish with tomatoes and herbs. You can do this, but only on condition, if this product is actually used in the preparation of this dish, and if the label says “cooked meal option” or similar words.
First 2018 года специалистами Гродненской областной инспекции Госстандарта проверено на соответствие требованиям ТР ТС 022/2011 243 наименования пищевой продукции, of them 218 items were sold with labeling violations. Measures were taken in relation to the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.
With the text TR TS 022/2011 and other technical regulations of the Customs Union, of the Eurasian Union can be found on the State Standard website http://gosstandart.gov.by.