Omission of mandatory nutrition declaration

Although the Regulation normally requires a mandatory nutrition declaration, certain foods are exempt. These are listed in Annex V and are given below.

Foods which are exempted from the requirement of the Mandatory Nutrition Declaration:

1. Unprocessed products that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients;
2. Processed products which the only processing they have been subjected to is maturing and that comprise a single ingredient or category of ingredients;
3. Waters intended for human consumption, including those where the only added ingredients are carbon dioxide and/or flavourings;
4. A herb, a spice or mixtures thereof;
5. Salt and salt substitutes;
6. Table top sweeteners;
7. Products covered by Directive 1999/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 February 1999 relating to coffee extracts and chicory extracts, whole or milled coffee beans and whole or milled decaffeinated coffee beans;
8. Herbal and fruit infusions, tea, decaffeinated tea, instant or soluble tea or tea extract, decaffeinated instant or soluble tea or tea extract, which do not contain other added ingredients than flavourings which do not modify the nutritional value of the tea;
9. Fermented vinegars and substitutes for vinegar, including those where the only added ingredients are flavourings;
10. Flavourings;
11. Food additives;
12. Processing aids;
13. Food enzymes;
14. Gelatine;
15. Jam setting compounds;
16. Yeast;
17. Chewing-gums;
18. Food in packaging or containers the largest surface of which has an area of less than 25cm²;
19. Food, including handcrafted food, directly supplied by the manufacturer of small quantities of products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer. [For guidance on this final item, see note below]

Annex V

Note: The final item in this list mentions “small quantities” and “local retail establishments” without defining “small” or “local”. For the interpretation of these terms, guidance had been provided by the Department of Health in their “Technical Guidance on Nutrition Labelling” (March 2017). The Guidance (on page 5) states:

• We interpret “manufacturer of small quantities” to be a micro business under the EU and UK definition: less than 10 employees and a turnover/balance sheet total of less than €2m (£1.4m).
• We interpret “local” retail establishments to be those within the supplying manufacturer's own county plus the greater of either the neighbouring county or counties or 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the boundary of the county the manufacturer is in.