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and your
team to be
compliant
Copyright 2012
This work is the property of Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
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reliance upon the information contained therein.
Understanding
food labels
As a chef or manager, the comfort and wellbeing of your guests
is always the first priority.
Your guests are better informed about their food choices than
ever before. They want to know whats in the meal theyre
ordering, so they can make the best selection according to their
needs. As legislation advances, youll want to be in compliance.
Thats why if any of them ask you questions about the exact
ingredients in your food, its crucial that you, as a food expert,
know how to read the label accurately, and that youre able
to answer any dietary queries with confidence.
This chapter summarises the information you can find on
a food label and provides a practical step plan that will help
you to analyse which ingredients and allergens are present
in your own dishes.
14
Name and
description of food
Country of origin
Ingredients
list & food
additives
Allergen
information
Nutrition labelling
Food recall
information
Date mark
Storage
requirements
15
Characterising ingredients
If you see a percentage in brackets next to a particular ingredient,
e.g. apples (26%), this is known as the characterising ingredient. It lists
the proportion of the ingredient/component included in the product
in this example, what percentage of your apple pie is actually apple.
16
Food additives
Food additives are listed in the ingredient list by their
functional name and by a number* or chemical name,
e.g. flavour enhancer (E621 or monosodium glutamate).
*Please note labelling of E-numbers is not mandatory in South Africa.
For further
information
oningredients
food ingredients
and additives
go to Chapter
3.
For further
information
on food
& additives
go to Chapter
3
Allergens
A further mandatory requirement is that
the common food allergens: crustaceans,
eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts,
molluscs, cereals containing gluten and
their products, are always included in the
ingredient list.
Good to know
Some food labels say may contain
e.g. nuts. This means that even
though nuts havent been included
in the food deliberately, the
manufacturer cant be sure that
the product doesnt accidentally
contain small amounts of them.
17
Claims
Claims on pack can be used to promote the main benefits of a product and/
or brand. Claims can either be simple, direct statements but can also be
presented in the form of logos and symbols.
For chefs, claims on the product application such as bain-marie stable,
freeze thaw stable and instant application can be as appealing as claims
on the product quality such as organic, made with natural ingredients,
made with cage free eggs.
Also the suitability for various dietary requirements such as lactose-free,
gluten-free, vegetarian, without allergens or nutrition claims
such as high in fibre, low in fat, low calorie and low in sodium
can be relevant information for chefs.
18
Date marks
Food labels have date marks to tell us about
the safe shelf life of foods. These date marks
help us tell how long food can be kept before
it begins to deteriorate and lose key quality
characteristics, like taste and colour.
To learn more about different storage
instructions and date marks go to Chapter 7.
Preparation instructions
Preparation and/or dosing instructions tell you how to prepare/
dose the product. They are developed to ensure the best flavour
and quality, and the optimal use in your kitchen.
Based on the dosing instruction the nutrition data of the prepared
product is shown in the nutrition table. When you follow this
preparation instruction you know the nutrition data of your
prepared food. The yield of the prepared product is also calculated
based on the on-pack preparation instruction. This information
helps you to ensure that you use the amount of product which is
most cost efficient and delivers great taste.
19
Country of origin
If you want to understand more
about where the food you buy
comes from, you can look for the
Country of Origin information
on pack. This information describes
the country or countries where
your food was manufactured
or packaged.
Traceability information
To enable full traceability, it is a
legal requirement that food labels
show the name and business
address of the manufacturer
or supplier (packer, vendor or
importer), together with the lot
and batch number of the food
(or date coding).
20
Ingredient statement
1. List the ingredients you use in your
dish in their raw state in the order
of their quantity from highest
quantity to the lowest.
2. Copy the ingredient list of every
processed ingredient.
3. Write the ingredient statement
for your dish in the order of the
ingredients listed in step 1
(highest quantity to the lowest).
Good to know
Your menu may contain both processed and nonprocessed ingredients. Non-processed ingredients
often dont have an ingredient list. In this case just
include the name of the ingredient.
Each ingredient should be separated by a comma.
Ingredients should be listed with the product and
brand name to ensure that the statement is accurate
and the ingredient can be clearly identified.
21
Allergen statement
1. Check for the Common Food Allergens in the
ingredient statement of the dish (Chapter 4).
2. Write the allergen statement for your dish by listing
the allergens in alphabetical order.
Good to know
Most processed ingredients list allergens on
the packaging, helping you to identify which are
the allergens in your dish. If not please contact
your suppliers helpdesk.
Most naturally grown ingredients do not
have allergen information on pack. For these
ingredients please check if they are classified
as common food allergens.
For detailed information on common
allergens please refer to the Dietary
requirements chapter.
Remember that allergens can enter
a dish through cross contamination
during preparation and serving.
22
23
Data sources
The Consumer Protection Act
South African Government Online, 2012. What is
the Consumer protection Act. [Online] http://
www.info.gov.za [Retrieved on 10 October 2012]
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.
do?uri=OJ:L:2008:354:0016:0033:en:PDF
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1129/2011
of 11 November 2011 amending Annex II
to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European
Parliament and of the Council by establishing
europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.
do?uri=OJ:L:2011:295:0001:0177:En:PDF
Dietary requirements
pdf/A_Guide_To_The_Consumer_Protection_Act.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2012. FoodConsumer Centre Food Allergies. [Online]
December 2012]
20 August 2012]
The Anaphylaxis Campaign, 2012. Food and
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
food/food-safety-quality/scientific-advice/jecfa/
jecfa-additives/en [Retrieved 20 August 2012]
October 2011]
edition. 2007
Statistics South Africa. Mid-year population
REGULATION (EC) No 1333/2008 OF THE
publications/P0302/P03022010.pdf [Retrieved
242
Storage
Colorado State University-Extension, 2012.Food
Storage for Safety and Quality. [Online] http://
www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09310.htm
[Retrieved 04 December 2012]
Clemson University Cooperative Extension
Service and Oregonian Food Day, 2012. Food
Storage Chart - Food Storage Guidelines Shelf
Life of Food - Refrigerator & Freezer Storage
Chart. [Online] http://whatscookingamerica.net/
Information/FreezerChart.htm [Retrieved
04 December 2012]
koshercertification.org.uk/whatdoe.html
[Retrieved 4th December 2012]
Nutrition table
The World Health Organisation, 2012. Health
Topics Nutrition. [Online] http://www.who.int
[Retrieved 4th December 2012]
www.helpwithcooking.com/food-storage/
refrigeration-tips.html [Retrieved 04
December 2012]
Center for Foodservice Learning, 2010 2011.
Storing Food Safely - Home Storage Practices.
[Online] http://www.food-safety-and-you.com/
StoringFoodSafety.html [Retrieved 04
December 2012]
04 December 2012]
heartfoundation.co.za [Retrieved 15
[Online] http://www.helpwithcooking.com/
November 2012]
egg-guide/fresh-egg-test.html [Retrieved 04
December 2012]
243
Storage continued...
Answers Corporation, 2012. Is it safe to eat expired
canned food? [Online] http://wiki.answers.com/Q/
Is_it_safe_to_eat_expired_canned_food [Retrieved 04
December 2012]
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2012. Refrigerated
and Freezer Storage. [Online] http://food.unl.edu/
web/safety/refrigerator-freezer. [Retrieved 04
December 2012]
State Government of Victoria, 2012. Food safety
storage. [Online] http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/
bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Food_safety_storage.
[Retrieved 04 December 2012]
Still Tasty, 2012 . Three ways to defrost food safely.
[Online] http://www.stilltasty.com/articles/view/9.
[Retrieved 05 December 2012]
Favorite Freezer Foods, 2008-2011. Can you
refreeze food that thawed? [Online] http://www.
favoritefreezerfoods.com/refreeze-food.html
[Retrieved 05 December 2012]
State Government of Victoria, 2012. Food safety
when cooking. [Online]. http://www.betterhealth.
vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Food_safety_
when_cooking. [Retrieved
05 December 2012]
CBS Interactive, 2012. How long does fresh
fish keep in the fridge? [Online] http://chowhound.
chow.com/topics/276180
[Retrieved 05 December 2012]
244