News

Designing food packaging could become "hugely more difficult" if European Commission proposals to standardise food labelling become mandatory.

The commission yesterday (30 January) proposed a common label for pre-packaged food that includes levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt – per 100g, per 100ml or per portion – on the front of packs.

It would also have to indicate the proportion of these ingredients compared with the recommended daily allowance of each one.

However, Simon Preece, brand consultant at design agency Elmwood, warned that if the information was so intrusive that there was no room for brand expression, it would be "very disruptive to the overall design".

"Food packaging will start to look like cigarette packets, which are full of health warnings, and there will be no way to differentiate between brands," he said.

The label could also "work directly against the need for less packaging" if it had to be made bigger to accommodate more information.

Andrew Knowles, co-founder of packaging design agency Jones Knowles Ritchie, added that the design of a label was "largely academic" as purchasing decisions were made in seconds.

"These proposals will clutter up the front of the pack without making any impact on how consumers behave," he said.

The UK government last week called for retailers and food producers to use a "single, simple" product labelling system, based on the recommendations of independent research carried out by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The FSA favours the 'traffic light' system, where red indicates high levels of fats, salt and sugar.

FSA head of food labelling Stephen Pugh said that clear labelling, including easy-to-use nutritional information, was "essential" in helping people to make informed decisions.

He added that the FSA would launch a UK-wide public consultation on the proposal.

The draft EU regulation also proposed that all food that contained allergenic substances, such as peanuts, milk, mustard or fish, be labelled, or the presence of the allergen clearly indicated in another way.

The current requirement only covers pre-packed food, but the proposals extend to unpackaged food and food served by restaurants and catering establishments.

In addition, the information on the label must be "legible, clear and accurate" and use print of "at least 3mm" to stop it being "very small, hidden or overshadowed by marketing slogans".