Why do we have to label foods?
There are fundamentally three reasons why food has to be labelled to help customers, the address legal requirements and to increase sales.
Helping customers
Customers have the legal and moral right to know what is in the food they are buying and eating, so food businesses must give them information to be able to make an informed choice.
Customers want to know; what is in the food, how much is in the package, how to prepare, what nutrients are there for a comparison with other foods, and ideas for how to serve it.
The big thing that many consumers want to know is what food allergens are present in the food.
More and more, customers are also wanting to know just how much of an environmental impact the product has – in other words how “green” it is.
Addressing legal requirements
The Food Standards Code has very clear requirements stated for what is to be shown on food labels and how it is to be presented. These are supported by requirements in other legislation like the Trade Practices Act.
The reason for this legal obligation is to ensure that consumers can make an informed choice and also to level the playing ground between like products.
There are penalties imposed through the Food Acts in each state and territories for non compliance with these requirements. This also includes issues associated with “green washing” – stating green credentials that are not true.
The fundamental premise of all of these requirements is that the statements and information on the package must be the truth or the penalties may be applied.
A further result of non-compliance is the potential for recalls or retrievals, both of which are expensive financially and have the potential to cause irreparable damage to a brand.
Increasing sales
Food businesses want to sell their products to make a profit. Marketing of these products is how this is done.
This marketing includes the what, where, and how of the product’s labels.
The pretty pictures are there to mainly encourage people to buy the product. The colours and design used are specifically determined to maximise the likelihood of a sale now and in the future.
The business spend a lot of money to get the right combination to increase it’s sales, and is why when a design or colour change is made, there is always some form of advertising campaigns to promote it so people will still identify the product.
Business must ensure that both legal and business requirements are met with the product label and it should be checked and double checked to ensure that consumers will interpret it correctly. There was a recent chocolate bar that was imprinted with a specific design and the company has now had to retreive that product due to the shape being misinterpreted badly.
Labels are a crucial part of any prepackaged product and must be done correctly to meet legal requirements and achieve what both the company and it’s customers need.
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.