Food Safety Authority Of Ireland Launches Consultation On EU Rules On Prepacked Foods

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is undertaking a national consultation on EU regulations that allow for some prepacked food products to be exempt from displaying nutrition information. The consultation is being run in conjunction with the Department of Health and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The consultation has been launched on the back of EU regulations which require that most prepacked food products provide mandatory nutritional information to help consumers make more informed choices when buying food. But the regulation does provide a number of exceptions, one of which is the manufacture of small quantities of food that are supplied directly by the manufacturers to the consumer or to local retailers. This consultation seeks opinions from interested parties to assist define ‘small quantities of product’.

All interested parties are invited to express their views via an online questionnaire on the FSAI website, consultations tab. The consultation is open until August 22 2016.

Included in this list is ‘food, including handcrafted food, directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer.’

The EU has not defined ‘small quantities of products’ or ‘local’ in the legislation and have advised that each EU member state must provide a definition in their local market. Irish law has an accepted definition for ‘local’, however; no such precedent exists to define ‘small quantities’.

The primary aim of this consultation is to determine such a definition to provide certainty and assist compliance among food businesses when the legislation comes into effect. According to Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, this is an opportunity for all interested parties to inform the FSAI of their views on what they would see as an acceptable definition. It could be based on a variety of criteria, including the weight of the products, the amount of sales or indeed the number of units, so it is important for those who have an opinion to give their input now.

She said: “We actively encourage all interested parties to submit their views via the online consultation, so that their opinion and position can be taken into consideration when the definition is being formulated".

“The views submitted will assist in making a more informed decision in relation to the final definition for ‘small quantities’ in Ireland. This definition will be ultimately transposed into Irish law and is likely to have an impact on food producers and retailers”.

Source: Food Safety Authority of Ireland