More than half of inspections of Belgian retailers found food labels to be non compliant to EU regulations, according to a large-scale investigation by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA).
Some 150 AFSCA agents carried out an inspection of pre-packaged food products between 11 and 17 June, visiting more than 1,240 retailers throughout Belgium.
The agency found that in more than half of inspections, food labels were not in order. Some 53% of checks found at least one product label that did not meet EU requirements and did not include mandatory information.
Missing expiry dates, ingredients and allergens
In almost 20% of cases, the agency said that non-conformities found on the labels posed a real health risk to consumers. In a third of cases a correct expiry date was missing, in more than 22% of cases the list of ingredients did not appear on the label, and in 20% of cases allergens were not mentioned.
In almost a quarter (24%) of cases, the label was not written in the language of the region where the product was being sold, and other shortcomings were also noted, such as the absence of the sales name or the contact details of the operator responsible for labelling.
This picture shows a nutritional information on a package. Credit: Belga
Aline Van den Broeck, spokesperson for the AFSCA, said the results of the targeted action "show that companies still need to be more aware of the importance of correct food labelling to guarantee consumer safety".
"Every day, more than 700 AFSCA inspectors are present in the field to monitor food safety. We take every opportunity to inform professionals and explain the regulations to them. In addition, we offer an e-learning course on food labelling that is available free of charge on the AFSCA website," she said.
Warnings and fines issued
The AFSCA has been monitoring the entire Belgian food chain for almost 25 years, from producer to consumer. Every year, around 1,400 employees carry out more than 106,000 inspections in food sector businesses.
The AFSCA carries out label checks throughout the year, but this was the first time it carried out a co-ordinated action across all of Belgium. The action was announced in advance, with information published on the AFSCA website for food companies.
Following the large-scale inspection, warnings and fines were issued in 36% and 17% of cases respectively. The AFSCA also ensured that the labels were corrected by reporting the non-conformities directly to those responsible for labelling. Several dozen files were transferred to foreign operators, including in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland, and Germany.
