Multilingual food label guidelines

FOOD safety chiefs are taking their message to Ireland’s newcomers as the nation’s diet becomes richer in oriental spices, new dishes and unusual ingredients.

For the first time ever, the Food Safety Authority is publishing guidelines in 10 different languages to tell wholesalers, importers and manufacturers what the consumer needs to know on food labels.

The authority said clear and unambiguous food labels were an important safety measure for consumers — and were also the law.

Guidelines on labelling are being made available in English as well as nine foreign languages including Arabic, Chinese, Urdu, Russian and Polish.

Jeffrey Moon, the authority’s environmental health specialist, said the guidelines were being issued in 10 different languages to reflect the diverse make-up of Ireland — where 10% of residents are foreigners.

“As multicultural Ireland takes off, there’s lots of different products coming in and not all of them will be labelled in English, which is the legal requirement,” he said.

Importers and manufacturers were the ones with crucial information like best-before dates and so were best placed to ensure food was labelled properly, he said.

The guidelines spell out exactly what information should be included on food labels and how those details should be presented.

Labels must also state the weight, best-before dates, country of origin, as well as allergy information — and be written in English.

Producers, importers and wholesalers have the option to use another language but all information still has to be presented in English.

Consumers with complaints about food labelling could contact the authority’s advice line or the Health Service Executive.

lCopies of leaflets on labelling guidance can be obtained by ringing the authority’s advice line on 1890-336677.