Food Labelling - Caffeine and Quinine

Changes to the labelling rules for foods containing caffeine or quinine were agreed in Brussels on 22 February last year. Member States agreed that caffeine and quinine should be declared in ingredient lists when used as a flavouring. On the 18 July 2002 Commission Directive 2002/67/EC was published on the labelling of foodstuffs containing quinine and those containing caffeine. Current legislation requires only the declaration “flavouring”, although many manufacturers already voluntarily indicate when caffeine or quinine has been added.

The new rules also require drinks containing caffeine in excess of 150 milligrams per litre to carry a declaration in the same field of vision as the name of the food. The declaration “High caffeine content”, together with the amount of caffeine expressed in milligrams per 100 millilitres, will alert consumers to unexpectedly high levels of caffeine in some drinks. This will not apply to drinks based on tea or coffee, or coffee or tea extract if the name of the food already makes that fact clear to consumers.

The Food (Provisions relating to Labelling) (England) Regulations 2003 , which implement these new requirements, are being published today for consultation. Copies of the consultation documents can also be downloaded direct from the Agency's website. If you would like to receive copies of the documents by post or e-mail, please contact Andrew Stephenson (tel 020 7276 8147 or fax 020 7276 8193; or e mail Labelling@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk).

We are taking the opportunity of this exercise to update certain references to the food labelling Directive that appear in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 and the Genetically Modified and Novel Foods (Labelling) (England) Regulations2000.

We would be grateful if any comments you have, could be sent to above contact details.

Regulatory impact

A draft Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and is attached below.

• Are the assessments made here generally accurate?
• Is there any other information you can provide that would better illustrate the effects of these proposals on your business or sector?
• Does the RIA accurately reflect the impact of the existence and application of different EU national legislation had on international trade?
• Does the Regulatory Impact Assessment accurately reflect the cost implications for businesses affected by the changes?
• Are there other implications for businesses, which should be taken into account in implementation?
• Will there be a need for specific advice for industry and enforcers?

Guidance Notes

A draft amendment to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 Guidance Notes have been prepared and are attached with this consultation.

Publication of responses

Please note that all responses will normally be made publicly available in full. If you would prefer your comments not to be made publicly available, please indicate this in your letter, explaining your reasons. A summary of the responses received will also be published on the Food Standards Agency website as soon as possible after the closing date of the consultation. Publication of responses in full may include personal data (such as your contact / address details). Please say whether or not you agree to such personal data being published as part of the response by returning the attached form to indicate your intention. If no objection is received, we will assume that you consent to full disclosure and we may publish the details.

Further information

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the Cabinet Office's Code of Practice on Written Consultation. If you need any further information about the issues covered in this consultation, please contact Elizabeth O'Sullivan. If the mailing information used to send you this consultation has changed please let Andrew Stephenson have your new details. If you have any Data Protection concerns, please contact Kay Wolf (FSA Records Manager) (020 7276 8194, e-mail kay.wolf@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk).

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the consultation feedback questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. The FSA will publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name. Disclosure of any other personal data would be made only upon request for the full consultation responses. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator by email: consultationcoordinator@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk