It is mandatory in most countries to provide labels on food where people can learn more about the ingredients and other details. Also, it is crucial to pay attention to regulations in different countries if you plan to export goods there.
Certain ingredients or labeling formats may not be the same in your country. Therefore, preparing an accurate label should be the first step when placing your products on the market. There is a great solution to easily create it by using the Nutrition Label Maker, and you can learn more about this option if you check out NutritionistPro.
There are many reasons why this is important. First, people could be allergic to some ingredients or track calories and other minerals due to some specific diet. Furthermore, here are some of the most important requirements that must be present on a food label.
1. Name
The biggest mistake would be to try playing around with attractive names that could be misleading. It might seem like a good promotional strategy, but you will face issues with various regulations. The key is to include a clear description in the product’s name.
For instance, if you are selling poultry, add the specific type of poultry in the package and additional ingredients, such as chicken with curry sauce. You will also have to mention if the food is processed in any way, like being cooked, smoked, dried, and more.
2. Ingredients
The list of ingredients must be accurate. Therefore, you will need to specify the list and the amount according to the package. For instance, you are selling a mix of dried fruits and berries. Therefore, you will have to be clear about how much of each ingredient is in the package, like 50 grams of blueberry, 50 grams of raspberry, and 100 grams of strawberry in a package of 200 grams.
Remember the ingredients that might seem irrelevant. The best example to explain this is canned tuna. In most cases, around 70% of the package will be fish, while the rest is vegetable oil and additives. You will have to provide more about the total oil and other ingredients.
3. Allergens
It is not rare these days that people face issues with various allergies. However, the most common allergens in food are milk, gluten, peanuts, soy, celery, tree nuts, and mustard. In addition, some people have more serious conditions where even traces of some ingredients can lead to health issues.
In that matter, this is not something to play around with. Be sure to add a full list of all potential allergens in the product. It also depends on the regulations, but most countries require sellers to bold the allergens on the label so that people can easily notice them.
4. Nutritional Values
Besides the standard information about the package, weight, and ingredients, you will also have to add a table of nutritional values. We can notice that customers prefer a clear table where they read more about the food’s calories, protein, minerals, carbs, and other details.
Therefore, the best approach is to calculate the specific values for the package instead of providing information about the ingredients in percentages. For example, it is easier for a customer to understand that the food he is buying has 12 grams of protein per 100 grams than adding the value of 12%.
You can be even more specific by adding a table that will provide the correct amount of each value included in the package. That can help if the product’s weight is not a round number, like 100 grams or 500 grams. Since people are more interested in labels, you can attract more customers with this approach.
5. Additional Details
Potential customers will be interested in learning more about the product by checking the name of the company that is selling it, the main distributor, and manufacturer or farm. For instance, we know that Supliful is a proven supplier of supplements and vitamins but it’s not the same for all sectors. There is a huge difference between some large production of meat that is keeping animals in cages, and providing them with supplements for increased weight, and organic farms that are paying more attention to providing animals with a more natural environment and better conditions.
The second option is proven to be much healthier, which is the main reason why it is the biggest trend in recent years. If you are meeting certain standards to label your products as organic, you will be able to sell them for a higher price. Moreover, you will have to specify the location where the food is produced along with the expiry date.
There are some other information that you might need to add. For example, if you are selling processed food that can be easily prepared, you will need to provide some simple instructions about the proper preparation.
The great thing is that there is still a lot of space for marketing and you will be able to play around with the design of the package as long as all of the essential information are listed. You can use the list of ingredients for improved promotion as well.
For example, if the food that you are selling have high nutritional value, you can choose to add the table on the front side of the package, and highlight the main benefits, such as high amount of fiber, protein, vitamins, and more.
The Bottom Line
The key is to follow the laws and regulations of your target market. That is the only way to avoid potential issues where some countries can even ban your products. Also, it would be best never to hide any information, especially when it comes to allergens. In case someone face health issues due to consumption of your product that lacks clear declaration, that will most certainly end with a lawsuit.
In the end, the benefit is to use modern tables with clean data about various ingredients and amount of each one of them. It is common that people are following specific meal plans where they might want to decrease the intake of sugar, or increase the amount of protein in their diet.
