Tough laws on labelling of food products

By Lakwimashi Perera

The Consumer Affairs Authority has rescinded the directive issued under gazette number 1466 / 25 which required all imported packed goods to be price marked at the entry point and has instead issued a new directive under gazette number 1505 / 15, a spokesperson for the CAA told The Sunday Times FT.

The new directive which was gazetted on July 11 requires only confectionaries such as chewing gum, chocolates, biscuit, cake and toilet soap to be marked with the maximum retail price and will come into effect from October 1. The intention behind this, the spokesperson said, was to curb the problem of under invoicing and to help the local industry. “When we have these products being manufactured in the country and there are cheaper imports coming into the market, it kills the local industry” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the food industry was issued with further regulations when it comes to labelling and advertising under the Food (Labelling & Advertising) Regulations 2005, which was presented to the Parliament last week even though it was gazetted on January 19, 2005.

P. Madarasinghe, Assistant Director of Food Control Administration explained to the paper the effect of these regulations.

Among the new regulations are requirement where foods are imported in bulk and repacked (like milk powder for instance) that the labels should contain the date of manufacture and date of repacking, the country of origin in the case of imported foods be stated, labels or advertisements relating to any food cannot indicate directly or indirectly that it contains tonic, restorative or medicinal properties which make it beneficial for invalids or which will cure alleviate or prevent any illness, label or advertisement relating to any food cannot directly or indirectly imply that such food is a cure for any illness and no label or advertisement relating to any food shall claim it is an aid for slimming, weight control or weight reduction.

After these regulations were enforced, milk powders that claim to prevent a particular medical condition or that it would help in the growth and development of infants were pulled out.

He also explained that under the new regulations, no product can be described on any label as “fortified or enriched with Vitamin C” unless such products contain not less than 40 milligrams of ascorbic acid per 100 grams of the product.

Madarasinghe said that the authorities are vigilant about violators of these regulations. The penalty for non compliance is a fine of Rs 10 000 with the possibility of six months imprisonment for repeat offenders.