FOREIGN LANGUAGELABELLED SOFT DRINKS

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?The High Court has ruled that itis an offence to sell any productthat does not carry labelling inEnglish giving details such asingredients, name of the food,best before/use by date anddirections for use.The retailer has a responsibility under the law to ensurethat products are not sold that contravene the relevantlegislation relating to food labelling. Any retailer thatdoes could face a fine of up to £5,000.

Soft drink labelling in the UK is governed by the FoodLabelling Regulations 1996. The law states that wherelabelling is required it should be in a language "easilyunderstood by the purchaser", which in the UK willusually be English. Neither retailers nor wholesalers maytherefore supply food or drink without labelling in Englishon the container.

Labelling law protectsconsumers. The informationon a label provides theconsumer with essentialinformation. This protection isundermined if the label is ina language that the consumerdoes not understand.Additional problems that may be caused by foreignlanguage labelled soft drinks:

• Consumer satisfaction is affected – some drinkshave different recipes in different countries, even ifthe brand name is the same

• It is hard to contact a foreign help-line – eitherwith a consumer complaint or to take up an on-pack promotion

• Public perception of standards may fall – if a drinkdoes not taste the way it was expected due to adifferent recipe or poor storage

• If labelling is incomplete, a product recall would beextremely difficult if not impossible

• Wrongly or incomprehensibly labelled productscould have serious implications for diabetics andpeople with phenylketonuria (PKU) or allergies toparticular ingredients

• Impact on legitimate retailers’ businesses –wrongly labelled drinks may be cheaper and sogive an unfair advantage in the marketplace

Across all packagedfood and drinkproducts, compulsoryinformation includes thefollowing:• A descriptive name of the food. A trade

name or brand name is not sufficient. Aproduct descriptor such as "carbonatedsoft drink with vegetable extracts" isrequired. If the drink contains anintense sweetener such as aspartame orsaccharin, then the name should includethe statement "with sweeteners".

• A best before or use by date

• The name and address of themanufacturer, importer or seller withinthe EU

• Special storage conditions or conditionsof use, if necessary – especiallyimportant for bottled waters, fruit juicesand juice drinks

• Place of origin, if to omit thisinformation would be to mislead

• Nutrition labelling – if a nutrition claimis made

• QUID might apply – if there is a claimregarding a characterising ingredient

• Weights and measures – is there an emark?

Foreign language labelled soft drinks aresometimes found on sale with an additionalsticker. Such a sticker must supply all theinformation required if the drink is to complywith the law: a listing of ingredients alone isnot enough.

You might wish to issue a warning and askfor the products to be removed from sale.Some local authorities have broughtsuccessful prosecutions for the sale ofwrongly labelled soft drinks. The penaltiescan be severe: fines and costs can run intothousands of pounds in the event of aconviction. It might also be possible for aconsumer to sue a retailer should there beharm caused by a wrongly labelled softdrink.

Should you find wrongly labelled soft drinks on sale, please also inform the Public Affairs Department at BSDA – telephone 020 7405 0300 or publicaffairs@britishsoftdrinks.com– as this will help with monitoring the scaleof the problem. BSDA can also provide thefollowing assistance if requested:

• Leaflets and information for wholesalersand retailers

• Witness statements for use in court – in theevent of a prosecution

• Press support in the event of a conviction– so that the deterrent effect of a singleconviction can be magnified many times

In addition, companies will act to protecttheir trademarks where these are infringed.

For more information about the soft drinks industry, please contact the Public Affairs Department, British Soft Drinks Association, 20-22 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4EB, tel 020 7405 0300,bsda@britishsoftdrinks.com,www.britishsoftdrinks.com

WHAT INFORMATIONMUST BE ON THE LABEL

FOR MOREINFORMATION

IF YOU FIND THESEDRINKS ON SALE, WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Printed and published by British Soft Drinks Association Ltd, 20-22 Bedford Row, London Wc1R 4EB 2008.