Food Information Regulations UK: What Happened In 2014

The Food Information Regulations UK (FIR) is a piece of domestic legislation containing what are known as ‘national measures’. So, what is a national measure? When the EU’s labelling directive became codified and was overhauled in the shape of the Food Information to Consumer Regulation (FIC) it became directly applicable in all EU Member States which, of course, included the UK at that time. Directly applicable means that the same Food Information legislation was binding throughout the EU precisely as it was written. National measures within the Food Information Regulations UK (FIR), however, allow for some local rules to be made but only within tightly set parameters (principally, the avoidance of food information causing obstacles to the free movement of goods).

National Measures Implemented In The Food Information Regulations UK

Perhaps the most notable national measure found in the UK’s FIR was how food information relating to allergens on non-prepacked foods was communicated to consumers. The EU deliberately left it to countries to make their own decisions on how to approach this; with this, the UK put into FIR that it was possible for food business operators to do it verbally if that is what they wanted (other countries did it differently, for instance Ireland does not allow the verbal communication of allergens information). In 2018, this changed of course following the sad death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse with FIR being amended by the so-called ‘Natasha’s Law’ (read here for more on Natasha’s Law which comes into full effect in October 2021). Another point of divergence was the names used on low alcohol products where in the absence of EU harmonised legislation, the UK implemented law regarding the names that could be used (for instance ‘alcohol free beer’). In the end, these were simply restated as guidance rather than enforced law but maintained compositional differences compared to other EU countries which arguably placed domestic producers at a disadvantage (often a risk of national measures/divergence).

A lot has happened in the world of food information since then, not least Brexit where the UK is no longer bound to keep its food information legislation harmonised with the EU and can choose regulatory divergence, only time will tell what effect that will have with regards to labelling changes and trade.

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