New EU Regulation No. 1169/2011 on Provisions of Food Information to Consumers will have a massive impact on the way businesses develop and market their products, says one of the UK’s leading specification and labelling services companies.

Lorraine Eve,Head of Regulatory Affairsfor Ashbury Labelling, says the new legislation will mark a real change from those before it.“The new EU legislation sees a key shift from allowing the food industry to apply its own voluntary labelling requirements, towards a mandatory approach to regulating food labelling information – the biggest changes being the introduction of mandatory nutrition declarations and the setting of a minimum font size for labelling information.” said Lorraine.  “These two changes alone will have a huge bearing on those within the food and drink industry who not only need to adapt their methods to comply with the new requirements, but will have to fundamentally change the way they design their labels.”

Lorraine will be presenting a summary of the key changes for Regulatory and Technical professional at the Food Safety, Health Claims and Regulation in Europe conference taking place in Brussels on the 30 November. The session will focus on what changes manufacturers will need to make to comply with new requirements, the implications for consumers and how to overcome the time and cost constraints of the new regulations.

Lorraine added: “As a Regulation which automatically applies to all EU member states, it should result in a more consistent application of the labelling rules, making the marketing of food products across Europe simpler.  This is especially important with the increase in distance selling over the last decade. If consumers do not have access to the right information, then they cannot make informed decisions about their own diet. Although the new regulation will no doubt create some challenges for the industry, hopefully it will demonstrate some real value to consumers that make the changes really worth it.”

For more information on Ashbury Labelling’s presentation or the Food Safety, Health Claims and Regulation in Europe conference, go to http://www.c5-online.com/foodlaw/agenda.