The European Commission is developing a database to help food manufacturers identify all EU and national mandatory labelling rules in a simple way, a European Commission said today (11 December).

Speaking at a background briefing, the official said the system should be ready before new rules requiring the display on packaging of information about the nutritional value of food products come into force in December 2016.

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The database will also be designed “to help small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cope with the burden of calculating the required nutritional values”, the Commission official added.

He was speaking as a significant number of new EU food information rules enter into force this Saturday, the official reminded food manufacturers. From 13 December, pre-packaged food products will have to contain on the label highlighted allergen information and the word nano in brackets indicating the presence of ingredients that are engineered nanomaterials. Food manufacturers will also have to specify the type of oils contained in the products, and whether products have been defrosted before being sold.

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