New FSA guidance on menu labelling

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revised its guidance on the use of marketing terms like 'fresh', 'pure' and 'natural' for food labelling.

The revised guidance includes advice on the use of new terms like farmhouse pâté, handmade, quality, selected, premium, finest and best.

The FSA consulted more than 1200 stakeholder organisations about the labelling guidance that it issued in 2002.

Stephen Pugh, head of the food labelling at the FSA, said: 'Marketing terms are useful to enable industry to differentiate their products but need to be used in a way that is meaningful to consumers.

"In our guidance, we have suggested the conditions when certain marketing terms can be used. These conditions reflect current consumer understanding and perceptions of these terms."

The guidance assists manufacturers, producers, retailers and caterers decide when these descriptions may be used and when they should not. Use of these terms as set out in the guidance will benefit consumers, by encouraging consistent, transparent labelling practices. Visit www.food.gov.uk for more information.