Draft criteria on the use of the terms Fresh, Pure, Natural

The Agency has known for some time that consumers are concerned about the way some descriptions on labels have lost their true meaning. This conclusion has emerged from consumer research, public consultations and correspondence. This advice is intended to help industry decide when these terms should be used and when they should not and to help enforcement authorities to challenge inappropriate uses.

In 2000 the Agency invited the Food Advisory Committee (FAC) to investigate usage of a number of these terms and advise how misuse might be avoided. These terms were:

• Fresh
• Natural
• Pure
• Traditional
• Original
• Authentic
• Home-made/Farmhouse

It concluded that the basic requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990, the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 were sufficient in principle to ensure that consumers are not misled in this area of claims.

However, it also found that these terms were being misused in some cases, and that there was clear room for improvement. It felt that usage had in some cases become far-removed from generally accepted meanings and had the potential to mislead consumers, even after making due allowance for changes to the accepted meaning and use of words over time. The Committee made a number of recommendations, which have been taken as the basis for the following advice.

Pictures on labels and in advertisements have a powerful effect on prospective purchasers and, in some product sectors, may have a greater significance than names and other descriptive material. Pictorial representations should be subject to the same scrutiny and control as the words used to portray similar images and concepts.

Any use must be capable of technical substantiation. Where there is any doubt over the likely interpretation of the phrase or description being used, the most likely interpretation of a typical consumer should prevail.

It should always be clear in each case what characteristic of a product is being described.

It is not helpful to use "style" or "type" to qualify these terms. This only makes matters worse.

Raw meat:
Virtually all carcase meat is chilled to near or just below 0¿ C following slaughter, principally as a hygiene measure. The term "fresh" is traditionally used to differentiate raw meat from that which has been (chemically) preserved. It would serve no purpose to disqualify chilled meat from use of the term 'fresh'.

Use of the term "fresh" in these circumstances is acceptable.

Frozen / thawed meat:
Until recently, UK Labelling legislation required a statement to be displayed near any meat that had been frozen but was being sold thawed, to the effect that it had been "previously frozen, do not refreeze". Such meat would not be considered by the average consumer to be "fresh".

The term "fresh" should not be used in these circumstances.

Fruit juice:
Where the intention is to indicate that the product is not made from fruit juice concentrate, the term "juice from freshly squeezed fruit" should be used in place of "freshly squeezed juice".

The term "fresh" should not be used, directly or by implication, on juices prepared by dilution of concentrates.

Frozen foods:
The term "fresh" should only be used in relation to frozen foods if its use is clear from the context e.g. "frozen from fresh", "made with fresh ingredients" or similar expressions.

Fresh ingredients:
The term "made from fresh ingredients" should be used only where the intended meaning is that no processed ingredients were used.

Fresh taste:
The expression "fresh taste" should not be used where it could mislead the consumer, for example by implying "freshly squeezed", unless it is clear from the context that the reference is to the "tanginess" of the taste or if the appropriate criteria for "freshness" are met.

Chilled foods:
The increased sales of chilled convenience foods has led to the use of the term "fresh" to indicate a moderate life under refrigerated conditions and to highlight the difference from conventional long-life products.

The term "fresh" should not be used in this manner unless the product complies with the appropriate criteria for its use, as set out in this advice.

"Natural" means essentially that the product is comprised of natural ingredients, e.g. ingredients produced by nature, not the work of man or interfered with by man. It is misleading to use the term to describe foods or ingredients that employ chemicals to change their composition or comprise the products of new technologies, including additives and flavourings that are the product of the chemical industry or extracted by chemical processes.

The term "natural" without qualification should be used only in the following cases:

a. to describe single foods, of a traditional nature, to which nothing has been added and which have been subjected only to such processing as to render them suitable for human consumption:

• smoking (without chemicals), traditional cooking processes such as baking, roasting or blanching and traditional methods of dehydration are examples of processes that are acceptable, as are physical sieving and washing with water.
• fermentation is itself a natural process but subsequent processes may disqualify the final product from the description "natural" unless appropriately qualified.
• processes such as freezing, concentration, pasteurisation, and sterilisation, whilst clearly playing a significant role in both making food safe and preserving it do not accord with current consumer expectations of "natural" foods. However, the process to which a "natural" product has been subjected can be described using these terms (e.g. pasteurised natural lemon juice).
• for single ingredient foods such as cheese, yoghurt and butter, acceptable processing is that which is strictly necessary to produce the final product.
• bleaching, oxidation, smoking (with chemicals), tenderising (with chemicals), hydrogenation and similar processes fall outside the scope.
• the restriction to "foods of a traditional nature" excludes from the concept of "naturalness" novel foods and foods derived from novel processes.

b. to describe food ingredients obtained from recognised food sources and which meet the criteria in a).

c. to describe permitted food additives obtained from recognised food sources by appropriate physical processing (including distillation and solvent extraction) or traditional food preparation processes.

d. to describe flavourings when in conformity with the UK Flavourings in Food Regulations 1992, as amended, and EC Directives 91/71/EEC and 91/72/EEC.

e. to describe preserved tuna and bonito when in conformity with EC Regulation 1536/92.
Compound foods should not themselves be described directly or by implication as "natural", but it is acceptable to describe such foods as "made from natural ingredients" if all the ingredients meet the criteria in paragraph 21b), c) and d), as appropriate.

A food that does not meet the criteria in paragraphs 21a) or 22 should not be claimed to have a "natural" taste, favour or colour.

"Natural" meaning no more than plain or unflavoured should not be used unless the food meets the criteria in paragraphs 21a) or 22, or is in accordance with the Dairy Industry Federation Code of Practice for the Composition and Labelling of Yogurt.

"Natural", or its derivatives, should not be included in brand or fancy names, nor in coined phrases, in such a way as to imply that a food that does not meet the criteria in paragraphs 21a) or 22 is natural or made from natural ingredients.

Where the word "natural" forms part of a company name, no undue prominence should be given to the word on any individual product unless that product meets the requirements of these criteria.

Claims such as "natural goodness", "naturally better", or "nature's way" are largely meaningless and should not be used.

The principles set out above also apply to the use of other words or expressions, such as "real", "genuine", "pure" etc with separate and distinctive meanings of their own, when used in place of "natural" in such a way as to imply similar benefits. Guidance on such terms and their synonyms is offered elsewhere in these advice notes.

Other claims (which might be termed "negative claims") that do not use the term "natural" or its derivatives directly, but the effect of which is to imply "naturalness" to the consumer, are potentially misleading and confusing. The following should not be used:

• a claim that a food is "free from x", if all foods in the same class or category are free from "x";
• statements or implications which give undue emphasis to the fact that a product is "free from certain non-natural additives or categories of additives", when the product contains other non-natural additives;
• a claim that a food is "free from one category of additive", when an ingredient or an additive of another category having broadly similar effect has been used.

These criteria do not affect "negative claims" which do not imply "naturalness" to the consumer, (such as "free from x", where "x" is a particular additive), and where the statement may provide consumers with accurate and beneficial information.

The term "pure" should generally only be used in the following circumstances.

a) To describe a single ingredient food:

• to which nothing has been added;
• that is free from adventitious contamination by similar foods (ie tolerances for contamination such as for basmati rice, durum pasta, GM thresholds, etc should not apply);
• that has been extracted from naturally associated material, to which nothing has been added, provided it is made clear that it has undergone such a process, i.e. "pure refined white sugar" or "pure refined honey".

Compound foods should not generally be described, directly or by implication, as "pure". It is, however, acceptable to describe such foods as "made with pure ingredients", if all the ingredients meet the criteria above, or if a claimed, named ingredient meets these criteria. There are two exceptions to this general rule:

• Fruit juice: "pure" is used only for non-sweetened fruit juice but may be used for concentrated juice reconstituted with water. Legislation permits the addition of sugar or citric acid to correct sweetness and the use of ascorbic acid as an antioxidant during processing of fruit juices. The term "pure" is therefore used to identify to consumers that no such additions have been made.
• Jams and marmalades: the term "pure fruit" is used to indicate that the fruit has not been preserved by sulphur dioxide, prior to use in the jam/marmalade. This usage is acceptable. "Naturally pure" can be used to describe strawberry jam which contains added pectin and traces of residues of lead, cadmium and pesticides.

"Pure" should not be included in any brand or fancy names, nor in coined or meaningless phrases, in such a way as to imply that a food that does not meet the criteria above is pure or made from pure ingredients.

"Pure" meaning no more than plain or unflavoured should not be used except where the food in question meets the criteria above.

The term "traditional" should demonstrably be used to describe a recipe, fundamental formulation or processing method for a product that has existed for a significant period. The ingredients and process used should have been available, substantially unchanged, for that same period.

It is misleading to use the term "traditional", without qualification, simply to distinguish an "original" recipe from subsequent variants. Manufacturers and retailers should pay particular attention to the use of ingredients, particularly additives, and to the use of processes that have not been used in food manufacture for the substantial period of time indicated above. They must ensure that the term does not imply a composition or production method that would not be regarded as "traditional" by the average consumer and should consider whether the term "original recipe" or similar expression may be more appropriate. There should be evidence to substantiate the use of the word for the particular product.

The term "original" should only be used to describe a food that is made to a formulation, the origin of which can be traced, and that has effectively remained unchanged over time. It can similarly be used to describe a process, provided it is the process first used in the making of the food, and which has remained unchanged over time.

To be termed "original", a product should not have changed to any material degree and should remain available as the "standard" product when new variants are introduced.

Use of the term "original" to convey "plain" or "unflavoured" where other variants are offered (eg original flavour crisps), or to indicate the first variant in a series of products, should not be used unless the product can be shown to meet these criteria.

The term "authentic" and related terms like "real" and "genuine" should only be used in the following circumstances:

• to emphasise the geographic origin of a product, for example where it might be confused with other products of the same name that do not originate from that location, e.g. "authentic Devon toffees";
• to describe the recipe used to make a product, the origin of which is specified, e.g. "authentic Indian recipe curry";
• to emphasise the purity of single varieties of ingredients where such purity is essential to deliver specific characteristics.

"Authentic" and analogous terms should not otherwise be used, without qualification, to describe either a food or an ingredient.

"Home-made" is a term defined very simply and specifically in dictionaries: made or prepared in the home; of domestic manufacture; made at home using traditional methods rather than by a manufacturer; made by oneself; crudely or simply made.

Consumers understand the term "home-made" to mean food prepared in a domestic kitchen rather than in a factory or a manufacturer's kitchen. The use of the term, if unqualified, should accordingly be restricted to the broad criteria above.

In order to avoid visual misrepresentation, factory-made foods should not be shown being made in small kitchens, farmhouses etc.

In order to accommodate the production of meals and dishes on commercial catering premises, the term "home-made" should be restricted to the preparation of the recipe on the premises, from primary ingredients, in a way that reflects a typical domestic situation. This should not be achieved simply by the assembly of wholly pre-prepared elements, or simple reconstitution from dry base mixes, but must involve some degree of fundamental culinary preparation. As in domestic preparation, it would be legitimate for caterers to use partly-prepared ingredients; typical examples could include the use of pre-prepared raw pastry, bakery bread in desserts or stock cubes in sauces.

With the exception of its use to describe a style of bread, where the term "farmhouse" is used in connection with foodstuffs, it should refer to that produced on a farm or to the same quality and style as that likely to be produced on a farm. Given the vagueness of the term when used alone, its meaning should be made clear either within the context of sale (e.g. in a cottage restaurant) or by associated wording (e.g. "farmhouse style" (with picture of product)) or "farmhouse style, chunky vegetables").

Simply describing an ingredient as "farmhouse", e.g. "x with farmhouse vegetables", is meaningless. The term should not be used in this context.

The similar expression "country style" does not appear to have any specific meaning. This phrase should not be used to describe any food or food ingredient.

Food Standards Agency
July 2001