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Food Standards Agency

Thursday 24 July 2008

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Labelling and Packaging

The Food Standards Agency is concerned not only with the food we eat but with what it is sold in and how that is labelled.

The Agency is responsible for making sure that the rules on the safety of materials that come into contact with food are enforced. Food contact materials include the containers food is sold in, the packaging, as well as the articles used to handle food, from food processing machinery to cutlery.

Food labels are a useful source of information, primarily to inform and protect consumers. Much of the Agency's current work on labelling is to help make sure that people get the information they need in an understandable form.

Visit our consumer advice website eatwell for more information about how to read labels, plus an explanation of what the most common terms on food labels mean. Details of our day-to-day work, including policy, research, guidance and campaigns, are set out below.

More about Labelling and Packaging

Understanding labelling rules

Labelling Conference 2006 | Labelling Guidance | Proposed new regulation on food information for consumers | UK list of health claims

Food contact materials

Food Contact Materials and Articles - Update on issues: December 2007 | Food Contact Materials and Articles Legislation Guidance Notes | Food contact materials: Your Questions Answered | Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006: Guidance notes

Packaging

Adhesives | Aluminium | Bisphenol-A (BPA) | Cling film | Phthalates | Plastics | Re-using packaging | Working Party on Food Contact Materials

Signposting

Independent evaluation project | Supporters of FSA's approach to signpost labelling | Retailers, manufacturers and service providers that use signpost labelling | Breakfast cereal research | Timeline of signposting scheme development | Signpost labelling research | Board agrees principles for front of pack labelling | Technical guidance | Front of label tracking survey

Labelling research

Research on labelling issues

Labelling research, go

Packaging committees

Working group that advises the Agency

Packaging committees, go

Labelling publications

Leaflets on food labelling

Labelling publications, go

More advice from our eatwell website

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