Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972)RegulationsRegulations relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs2. - 15. General Provisions |
General
| 2. | No person shall manufacture, import, sell or offer any pre-packaged foodstuff for sale, unless the foodstuff container, or the bulk stock from which it is taken is labelled in accordance with these regulations. |
| 3. | No person shall advertise a foodstuff in any manner, which contains any information, claim, reference or declaration not permitted on the label in accordance with these regulations. |
| 4. | Subject to regulation 54(3) a non-prepackaged foodstuff that is displayed for sale shall have the particulars with which it is required to be labelled in terms of these regulations appearing on display in its immediate proximity. |
| 5. | All information related to the requirements of these Regulations shall be kept on record by the manufacturer, importer, or seller and failure to produce the relevant documentation within 2 (two) working days upon request by an inspector, or employee of the Department shall constitute an offence. |
| 6. | No label or advertisement of any nature of a foodstuff shall refer to the Act, food-related food Regulations, the Department of Health, Provincial or Local Government, or official of the said Department, Provincial or Local Government. |
Presentation
7.
| (1) | Subject to the provisions of regulation 8, information required to appear on any label shall be— |
| (a) | in English and where possible, at least one other official language of the Republic of South Africa; |
| (b) | clearly visible, easily legible and indelible and the legibility thereof shall not be affected by pictorial or any other matter, printed or otherwise. |
| (2) | The labels of pre-packaged foodstuffs shall be applied in such a manner that it can not be separated from the container at point-of sale. |
Letter sizes
| 8. | Unless otherwise stipulated by the Agricultural Products Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008), and— |
| (a) | subject to these regulations, the name of the foodstuff shall appear on the main panel of the label in letters not less than 4 mm in height. unless a smaller size of lettering is permitted by these regulations; Provided that in the case of returnable soft drink bottles with embossed labels, the name may, in addition, be on the cap in letters not less than 1 mm in height for lower case vowels; |
(b)
| (i) | subject to these regulations the information required to appear on a label in terms of the Act shall be in letters not less than 1 mm in height for lower case vowels; |
| (ii) |
| (aa) | the letter sizes prescribed in paragraph (a) shall apply to packages of which the main panel exceeds 12 000 mm2; and |
| (bb) | in the case where the area of the main panel of the package does not exceed the area indicated in column I of the table below but exceeds the next smaller area listed in the column, the information on the package may be reflected in letters of which the height is not less than the proportion indicated in the corresponding line of column II of the height prescribed by regulations: Provided that the height to which the letters may be reduced shall be not less than 1 mm in height for lower case vowels; |
I |
II |
Area in mm2 |
Percentage (%) of prescribed height |
12 000 |
85 |
8 000 to 11 999 |
70 |
5 000 to 7 999 |
50 |
| (c) | words which qualify the name of the foodstuff or which are an essential part of the description thereof, shall be reflected in the immediate proximity to the name in prominent, distinctive letters of the same size, font, colour, prominence and legibility not less than one-third of the letter size of the biggest letter of the name, except in the case of returnable soft drink bottles, the information on the cap, with the exception of the name, shall be in letters not less than 1 mm in height for lower case vowels; and |
| (d) | the listing of ingredients and proportions of ingredients shall be in a letter type of uniform size, colour, font and prominence throughout and the first letter may be a capital letter. |
Identification
9. The label of a pre-packaged foodstuff shall contain—
| (a) | on the main panel, the name of the particular foodstuff, provided that where the name is not a proper description of the foodstuff, the name shall be accompanied by a appropriate description and where a name or names have been established for a food in a Codex Alimentarius Standard, at least one of these names shall be used; |
| (b) | the name and address of the manufacturer, importer or seller; Provided that in the case of imported foodstuffs, the manufacturer's name and address shall be included on the label; |
| (c) | Instructions for use of a foodstuff, where it would be difficult to make appropriate use of such foodstuff without such instructions; |
| (d) | the list of ingredients required by regulations 16 to 29, where applicable; |
| (e) | special storage conditions, where applicable; and |
| (f) | the net contents of the container in the SI-units ("Systeme International units") in accordance with the requirements of the Trade Metrology Act, 1973 (Act No. 77 of 1973). |
Country of origin
| 10. | Unless otherwise required by regulations published in terms of the Agricultural Products Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008), the country of origin of a foodstuff shall be declared on the label as follows: |
| (a) | "Product of (name of country)" if all the main ingredients, processing and labour used to make the foodstuff are from one specific country; |
| (b) | "Produced in (name of country)", "Processed in (name of country)", "Manufactured in (name of country)", "Made in (name of country)" or similar words when a foodstuff is processed in a second country which changes its nature; or |
| (c) | the words "Packed in (name of country)" may be used in addition to the requirement of paragraph (a) or (b) above. |
Batch identification
| 11. | A container of a foodstuff shall be clearly marked with a batch number in such a way that the specific batch is easily identifiable and traceable unless otherwise stipulated in terms of regulations published under the Agricultural Products Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008). |
Date marking
12.
| (1) | No person shall import, manufacture, sell, distribute or donate a foodstuff unless a date marking is clearly indicated on the label or container of such foodstuff, except those foodstuffs indicated in Annexure 4. |
| (2) | The date shall be preceded by appropriate words "best before" and/or "use by", and/or "sell by", depending on the nature of the product: Provided that abbreviations shall not be permitted, except "BB" for "best before", but the preceding words shall be written out in full. |
| (3) | The date marking may not be removed or altered by any person. |
| (4) | In cases where several items are included in an outer wrapper or sleeve, which during normal usage by the consumer will be discarded, the date shall appear on the packaging that will be retained by the consumer until consumption |
| (5) | The date shall be indicated in the order, "Day-Month-Year", when numbers only are used; Provided that where, in the case of imported products, another order than "Day-Month-Year" is used, the month is indicated in letters, either written out in full or abbreviated, and the year is written out in full. |
Prohibited statements
| 13. | The following information or declarations shall not be reflected on a label or advertisement of a foodstuff: |
| (a) | words, pictorial representations, marks, logos or descriptions which create an impression that such a foodstuff is supported, endorsed, complies with or has been manufactured in accordance with recommendations by— |
| (i) | health practitioner, individually or through any professional or consumer advisory organisation consisting of one or more of the aforementioned health practitioners; |
| (ii) | organisations, associations, foundations and other entities (excluding religious certifying organisations or any Fauna and Flora related certifying and endorsing bodies), unless approved by the Director-General and which can provide proof of the fact that they are involved in generic health promotion which is supported by evidence-based nutrition, and that the directions of the organisation, association or foundation do not contradict the requirements of these regulations in terms of nutrition claims and the criteria thereof; |
| (b) | an endorsement or testimonial of an individual in the form of a picture, written or verbal statement or in any other form, when the individual's endorsement or testimonial imply a nutrition claim; |
| (c) | an endorsement of a manufacturer or seller in the form of a logo, mark, symbol, written or verbal statement or any other manner of communication with regard the nutritional, or safety properties of the foodstuff brought to the attention of the public, unless it is valid according to the provisions of these regulations and appropriate substantiation can be provided to an inspector within 2 working days; |
| (d) | the words "health" or "healthy" or other words or symbols implying that the foodstuff in and of itself or a substance of the foodstuff has health-giving properties in any manner including the name or trade name , except in the case of the fortification logo for food vehicles as determined by regulations made under the Act and regulation 51(2); |
| (e) | the words "wholesome" or "nutritious" or any other words with a similar meaning in any manner including the name and trade name; |
| (f) | a claim that a foodstuff provides complete or balanced nutrition in any manner including the name and trade name; |
| (g) | subject to the provisions of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act No. 101 of 1965) as amended, the word "cure" or any other medicinal claim, including prophylactic and therapeutic claims; |
Negative claims
14.
| (1) | Subject to the conditions for nutrient content claims in Table 1, no claim, declaration or implication shall be made on the label of a foodstuff that such foodstuff— |
| (a) | alone possesses a particular characteristic, property or substance when in fact similar foodstuffs in the same class or category also possess the same characteristic, property or substance; unless— |
| (i) | the characteristic, property or substance is often found or commonly present in the referred-to class or category of foodstuffs; and |
| (ii) | the claim, declaration or implication is worded in a generic manner as follows: |
"(generic or category name of foodstuff but no brand name) naturally contains (name of characteristic, property or substance)";
| (b) | is free from a particular characteristic, property or substance when in fact similar foodstuffs in the same class or category are also free from the same characteristic, property or substance; unless |
| (i) | the characteristic, property or substance is often or commonly absent in the referred-to class or category of foodstuffs; |
| (ii) | the claim, declaration or implication is worded in a generic manner as follows: |
"A naturally (name of characteristic, property or substance) free food"; or "(generic or category name of food but no brand name) is a naturally (name of characteristic, property or substance) free food" so as not to reflect negatively on other similar foodstuffs in the same class or category.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subregulation (1),—
| (a) | where an additive, which is permitted for a particular class or category of foodstuffs in terms of specific regulations under the Act, is absent from the particular brand name of the particular class or category of foodstuffs, the claim, declaration or implication, when used, shall be worded as follows: "(name of additive) free"; |
| (b) | where a claim or declaration about a particular additive, which is not permitted for a particular class or category of foodstuffs under specific regulations under the Act, is made for information purposes, the claim, or declaration shall be worded in a generic manner as follows: "A (name of additive) free (name of category or class of food) as is the case with all (name of category or class of food)"; or |
| (c) | Where an additive, which is permitted for a particular class or category of foodstuffs under specific regulations under the Act, is not used in the foodstuff, but is naturally present in the ingredients of the foodstuff, the claim, declaration or implication, when used, shall be worded as follows: "no added (name of additive)". |
| (3) | No declaration referred to in subregulations (1) and (2) shall be made in relation to packaged water. |
Mandatory warning on certain foodstuffs
| 15. | The label of a foodstuff packaged in a pressurised container shall contain the following statement in bold uppercase letters of not less than 3,0mm in height: |
"WARNING - PRESSURISED - do not puncture or store above 50 °C".