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Trading standards officials from Oxfordshire, a UK local authority, examined the labels and undertook testing of 90 pre-packed foods on sale in their region during 2023/24.  These were mainly from retail outlets but included a few online sales.  It is not stated whether these were random samples, or targeted at where officers expected to find problems.

They found that 52 per cent of the on-pack (or on-line descriptor) labels failed to comply with food standards laws, while 13 per cent failed compositional tests.

Labelling issues identified included:

• Incorrect format of “best before end” durability dates
• The name of the food and the net weight not being in the same field of vision
• Instructions for use not being provided (instructions should be provided if consumers would find it difficult to use the food correctly without them)
• Incorrect nutrition declarations with higher than declared levels of carbohydrate, fibre and protein being found as well as incorrect energy calculations based on the declared nutrients
• General non-specific health claims being used without the support of an authorised health claim
• No name and address of a food business operator in Great Britain responsible for the food information
• Mandatory food information not provided in English

The announcement of the results is here.

Photo by Peter Bond on Unsplash