News
Misleading marketing coming to an end
November 20, 2005
By Jani Meyer
Strict new food-labelling regulations will put an end to marketing gimmicks, with words like "healthy" and "nutritious" no longer allowed on products.
Even flavoured bottled water will have to be sold and advertised as a soft drink. Claims of "cholesterol-free" on vegetable oils will no longer be allowed, as vegetable oils do not contain cholesterol.
Gabi Steenkamp, a dietitian and food labelling consultant, said that by implication, consumers could assume that only those oils labelled were the healthier choice.
With the new regulations this would no longer be so. Instead of labelling a product as being 98 percent fat-free, it would have to state that it contained 2 percent fat or the relevant variable.
Solly Mabotha, a department of health spokesperson, said the new legislation on food labelling that was being developed would replace the 1993 Food Labelling Regulations.
The regulations will include that more allergens will have to be declared on products. Mabotha said only eggs and milk were regarded as potential allergens at present, but in future many more substances, such as fish, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat would have to be declared.
The legislation also aims to close loopholes used for marketing products by limiting health claims and is in line with international Codex standards.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was launched in 1963 in partnership with the World Health Organisation to develop international food standards and guidelines.
General food labelling requirements on foods and nutritional supplements will include quantitative ingredient declaration, date markings and batch identification numbers.
Steenkamp said the objective was to create an equal platform for all products by stating only the facts and not confusing people by implication.
Pictures may not be misleading and must reflect the product inside the package. A container of sweetener, for example, will not be allowed to have a picture of a cup of tea on it.
Claims like "rich" and "pure" must comply with standards set by the department.
Some of the labelling and advertising regulations include mandatory information such as the name and address of the manufacturer, instructions for use, contents and expiry date, as well as a nutrient analysis. The nutrients must be in table form for every 100g of the product.
Mabotha said there were loopholes in the current regulations that were being "abused".
"The new proposed legislation will provide complete guidance in terms of the specific conditions, cut-off values and prescribed wordings for claims," he said.
"There will be no more room for dishonest and misleading marketing," said Steenkamp.
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