The Centre for Food Safety today released guidelines for the food trade to provide legible information on food labels.
It said it is important that traders, when designing food labels for their products, note the legal requirements on legibility and showing the necessary information clearly.
Unless otherwise exempted, the information must include the name of the food; the list of ingredients; indication of durability; special conditions for storage or instructions for use; count, weight or volume; and, the name and address of the manufacturer or packer.
The centre said a number of factors can affect legibility, including font size, contrast between the background and the text, and spacing between lines. In principle, the font size used in a food label should be as large as possible to facilitate easy reading by consumers.
The guidelines provide specific recommendations on the key elements for a reasonably legible food label including suitable font size, good contrast and sufficient spacing. The clarity of words can also be enhanced by other factors, such as the use of an appropriate font type, suitable printing technology and a non-reflective printing surface.
Click
here for the guidelines.
