New rules established by Anvisa aim to facilitate the reading of nutritional information on packaging
Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) approved a new standard to make the information available on food labels clearer. The rule is valid for all packaged food products that go to the market from next Sunday (9.Oct.2022).
Read below what will change in food packaging:
NUTRITIONAL LABELING
A seal identified with a magnifying glass will appear on the front of the packages, at the top. It should signal about the high content of added sugars, saturated fats and/or sodium in foods.
Examples of how information will appear on packaging:
NUTRITIONAL TABLES
They should be white with black letters to facilitate reading. It must also contain the identification of total and additional sugars (A), the declaration of the energy and nutritional value per 100 g or 100 ml (B and C) –to help in the comparison between products– and the number of servings per package (D) .
Example:
The table should be placed next to the list of ingredients, in a place that is easy to see and without breaks. The exception is for small products, with labels smaller than 100 cm². In these cases, the table may be presented in covered areas, as long as they are accessible.
NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES
Information on packaging that relates the food to beneficial nutritional properties associated with calories and nutrients. Example: “low energy value”, “low sodium” and “fiber source”.
When there is a magnifying glass, the property cannot be at the top of the label. Properties on the nutrients indicated in the magnifying glass will also not be allowed.
DEADLINES
The changes in the labels were established by resolution 429 of the Collegiate Board of Anvisa and by the Normative Instruction 75published in October 2020. Here are the full text of the resolution (124 KB) and the instruction (1 MB).
Read the deadlines stipulated by the health surveillance for the replacement of labels:
- products that enter the market from October 9, 2022 – October 9, 2022;
- foods that are already on the market – October 9, 2023;
- food made by a family farmer or rural family entrepreneur, solidary economic enterprise, individual micro-entrepreneur, small-scale agro-industry, artisanal agro-industry and food produced in an artisanal way – October 9, 2024;
- non-alcoholic beverages in returnable packaging – October 9, 2025.
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