Nutritional labeling legislation

Abstract

With respect to nutrition labeling, many countries in the world rely on what the Codex Alimentarius Commission (the agency responsible for the implementation of the joint FAO/WHO foods standards programme) has accomplished over the past decades in this field. The Codex General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods is one of the most significant standards developed by the Commission and forms the basis for many developments in general with respect to labeling in the world. In order to promote a consistent international approach also on nutrition labeling, the Codex adopted almost at the same time in 1985 guidelines on this subject, which were worked out by the committee involved in labeling. The driving force for nutrition labeling was actually the view both of consumers and producers that neither improved ingredient listing nor a declaration of e.g. macro-nutrients such as fat and protein could replace information on the actual nutrient content of a food. In response to consumers' interest in nutrition, producers provided information about the nutrients which they considered to be attractive to the consumer. Because producers provided a hotchpotch of nutrient information (including claims) on labels, the need for a systematic presentation of this information as "nutrition labeling" was triggered. Nutrition labeling can be defined as a description intended to inform the consumer of the nutritional properties of a food. The Codex guidelines require that the nutrient declaration should appear on the label whenever a nutrition claim is made for a food. In accordance with the Codex guidelines, nutrition labeling will enable consumers to follow the dietary guidelines within their country. In 1988, a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation on recommended allowances for food labeling purposes, hosted by the government of Finland, developed a set of nutrient reference values (NRVs) to serve as the reference standard for the Codex guidelines. Although the question whether nutrition labeling should be "voluntary" or "mandatory" has been under discussion for a long time, most countries of the world have opted so far for the voluntary system: the nutrient declaration should appear on the label whenever a nutrition claim is made and the labeling should follow the criteria as set out in the Codex guidelines or another set of rules such as those of the European Community Council Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labeling of foodstuffs. Actions of both Codex Committees (the one on food labeling and the one on nutrition and foods for special dietary uses) to come to agreement, especially on health claims, could not prevent the United States from going their own regulatory way by enacting in 1990 the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) and more recently the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSH&EA). Both acts actually impede international trade. Although both the voluntary and the mandatory systems have their own advantages and disadvantages, the overall international nutrition labeling approaches have many similarities. The benefits of the mandatory approach in the field of nutrition, consumer education and developments in related fields such as the analytical, must not be underestimated. By recently throwing out the health claims temporarily, the food labeling committee agreed at its last meeting to forward the draft guidelines for use of nutrition claims to the Codex Commission for adoption at step 8, with the understanding that the table of conditions would be considered by the coming session of the committee on nutrition and foods for special dietary uses. In Europe, where the subsidiarity principle seems to prevail, it is difficult to forecast whether a worldwide uniform system of nutrition labeling can be or will be developed after the Edinburgh (1991) decision by politicians not to embark on nutrition labeling in the Community.