Food information in online stores: what EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires

Before purchase: what Article 14 requires

For prepacked foods offered for sale by means of distance communication – including online stores – Article 14(1) FIC states:

• Mandatory food information “shall be available before the purchase is concluded” – except the date of minimum durability or use-by date (point (a)).
• It “shall appear on the material supporting the distance selling” – in an online store, the product page – or be provided through other appropriate means clearly identified by the food business operator, without charging consumers additional costs.
• All mandatory particulars, including the date, must be available at the moment of delivery (point (b)).

For non-prepacked food sold online, the same applies to the particulars required under Article 44 – above all allergens (Article 14(2)).

A photo of the back of the pack is often hard to read and inaccessible to screen readers. Text on the product page, close to the price or in its own section, is clearer.

The mandatory particulars under Article 9

Article 9(1) FIC lists the mandatory particulars, in accordance with Articles 10 to 35 and subject to their exemptions:

1. a
   Name of the food

   for example “spelt hazelnut biscuits”, not only a brand name.

2. b
   List of ingredients

   headed by the word “ingredients”, in descending order of weight (Article 18).

3. c
   Allergens

   the 14 substances in Annex II, emphasised in the list of ingredients (Article 21).

4. d
   Quantity of certain ingredients

   where the ingredient appears in the name or is emphasised, e.g. “hazelnuts (8%)” (Article 22).

5. e
   Net quantity

   in grams, kilograms, millilitres or litres.

6. f
   Date of minimum durability or use-by date

   not required online before purchase, but at delivery.

7. g
   Storage conditions and conditions of use

   where appropriate, e.g. “refrigerate after opening”.

8. h
   Food business operator

   name or business name and address (Article 8(1)).

9. i
   Country of origin or place of provenance

   where Article 26 requires it, e.g. if its absence would mislead.

10. j
    Instructions for use

    where it would be difficult to make appropriate use of the food without them.

11. k
    Alcoholic strength

    for beverages containing more than 1.2% by volume of alcohol.

12. l
    Nutrition declaration

    energy value and six nutrients per 100 g or 100 ml (Articles 30 to 35).

The particulars must appear in a language easily understood by consumers in each country; Member States may require one of the official languages (Article 15).

The nutrition table

The mandatory nutrition declaration includes the energy value and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt (Article 30(1)), expressed per 100 g or per 100 ml (Article 32(2)). It follows the order in Annex XV and, if space permits, is presented “in tabular format with the numbers aligned” (Article 34(1) and (2)).

Energy is given in kilojoules and kilocalories (Annex XV). Fibre or mono-unsaturates, for example, may be added voluntarily (Article 30(2)).

Who is responsible

The food business operator responsible for the food information is “the operator under whose name or business name the food is marketed” or, if that operator is not established in the EU, the importer (Article 8(1)). It ensures the presence and accuracy of the food information (Article 8(2)).

• For your own brand, that is usually your business.
• For branded goods, it is usually the manufacturer whose name and address are on the packaging.
• Operators who do not affect the food information must still not supply food they know or presume to be non-compliant (Article 8(3)). Anyone who changes food information is responsible for each change (Article 8(4)).

If you take information from a database or a supplier, check it against the current packaging – recipes change.

Exemptions

Under Article 19(1) FIC, a list of ingredients is not required for, among others,

• fresh fruit and vegetables that have not been peeled, cut or similarly treated,
• cheese, butter, fermented milk and cream with no added ingredients other than those needed for their manufacture,
• foods consisting of a single ingredient, where the name of the food is identical to the ingredient or clearly identifies it.

The foods in Annex V are exempt from the nutrition declaration, including unprocessed single-ingredient products, water, herbs and spices, salt, coffee, tea, vinegar, yeast and chewing gum (Article 16(3)).

For beverages containing more than 1.2% vol, the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration are not mandatory under the FIC (Article 16(4)) – “without prejudice to other Union provisions”. One such provision applies to wine: Article 119(1)(h) and (i) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 requires a nutrition declaration and a list of ingredients.

Mandatory food information in Shopify

Many Shopify stores put ingredients and nutrition values into the product description. That works, but becomes hard to manage with many products: allergens must be emphasised, nutrition values belong in a table and every recipe change has to be followed up.

1. Find your food products

   Go through all products that are food or beverages. Pet food is not covered by the FIC.

2. Copy the information from the packaging

   Name, ingredients, allergens, net quantity, nutrition values and food business operator – per variant if the quantity differs.

3. Present it consistently

   Same structure everywhere, allergens in bold, nutrition as a table in the order of the regulation.

4. Check the product page

   On a phone and a computer, make sure everything is visible before purchase.

What happens if it is wrong

Food control authorities also check online stores. In Germany, missing or incorrect mandatory information can additionally be challenged by competitors and associations under the Act against Unfair Competition. With allergens, your customers’ health is at stake as well.