By Stephen Dryer, Product Manager, Mettler-Toledo CI Vision
Recent years have seen a number of new regulations come into effect around the world with more stringent requirements for the labelling of food products. In the European Union (EU), Directive 1169/2011 was implemented in December 2014, containing a number of provisions for added ingredient information on food product labels, with which manufacturers must comply – regardless of their country of origin – in order to continue to trade in European member states. The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards Version 7 was introduced in January 2015, also featuring updated guidance on the information included on food labels.
In 2014, China has developed its own strict legislation governing the information on food labelling of prepackaged food called China National Standard GB7718-2011, known as the General Rules for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods. Just like the EU directive, any manufacturers, global or local, seeking to sell their products in China must ensure that their product labels comply with this regulation this will then enable access to trade in, what is becoming, an increasingly lucrative market.
What is clear is that in both Europe and Asia, and elsewhere around the world, label regulations are becoming increasingly stringent. As a result, food manufacturers are under pressure to include more information than ever before, not just to ensure legislative compliance, but also to safeguard their brand against the reputational damage of a product recall, and to provide consumers with the tools to make an informed decision about the food they eat.
But what exactly do these latest regulations require? How can food manufacturers ensure they comply? And, what inspection technologies can help?
Regulatory Requirements
In EU Directive 1169/2011, the updated legislation requires food manufacturers to highlight information about all ingredients, including any allergens that have either been used in the product or might have come into contact with it during production. The country of origin and expiration date must be clearly displayed on the package. In addition to all of this, it is now mandatory for comprehensive nutritional information to be provided, detailing the energy content, sodium and mineral content of foods. All of this data must be clearly and legibly displayed on the packaging.
BRC Global Standards Version 7 contains a new Clause 5.2, which, just like Directive 1169/2011, states that food labelling must identify and list any known allergenic materials and ingredients. It also requires manufacturers to list all raw materials used in the creation of the product, any processing aids and new product development ingredients, as well as any ingredients that may require contaminant protection.
China’s General Rule for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods contains similar requirements to those in EU Directive 1169/2011. To comply, manufacturers must ensure that their pack labels state the net quantity of product within, as well as the country of origin, ingredient and allergen information. What is missing from the General Rule though, is the requirement for nutritional facts, such as energy, caffeine or sodium content, to be included on packaging. The law does, however, stipulate that the label information be displayed in a clear and prominent manner, be indelible and legible.
All of these regulations mean that manufacturers must upgrade their packaging to ensure they feature all of the required information and to make sure that it is clearly displayed so consumers can easily read and understand it. It also means that manufacturers must find new ways of inspecting every pack on the line to ensure all information is correctly and clearly displayed to minimize the risk of damaging product recalls due to label mix-up.
Meeting Regulatory Demands
In order to meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, prudent food manufacturers are now installing high-performance vision inspection technology on their production lines with the capability of inspecting every single label. Vision inspection technology inspects labels for correct information and legibility, as well as label placement – all at high throughput speeds. Such equipment can enable manufacturers to ensure that 100% of their products comply with new regulations. This can go a long way towards optimizing productivity for manufacturers, as well as safeguarding brand reputation.
Moreover, product inspection equipment,such as x-ray, metal detectionor checkweighing, is able to remove substandard or noncompliant products from the line and prevent them from reaching end-consumers. In this instance, substandard products include those containing physical contaminants such as glass, metal or calcified bone, under- or over-filled products, defect or damaged packaging, or missing components.
Overcoming Inspection Challenges
There is a range of vision equipment available on the market that can offer label inspection for manufacturers. However, no two production lines are alike, and each will come with its own challenges that must be overcome to optimize inspection precision.
For example, the range of packaging formats and label types available to manufacturers in the food sector is greater than ever before. From plastic trays and cartons, to rounded jars and cylindrical containers, to in-mold, thermal, silk-screen, or UV labelling, manufacturers have access to a host of formats to make their products stand out on supermarket shelves.
Round and cylindrical packaging in particular can present a challenge to precision label inspection. Standard vision inspection systems use up to four cameras to inspect each pack from a range of angles simultaneously. The images taken are then stitched together to produce a flattened image of the entire pack. This stitching process is good at determining correct label positioning, but when inspecting label information, it can produce imperfections in the finished image that can either mask genuine flaws in the pack label, or result in a false rejection.
With this in mind, it is important for manufacturers making use of round packaging to search for specialist vision inspection technology capable of overcoming these issues with stitching. Mettler-Toledo CI Vision, for example, has developed an alternative method for 360 degree label inspection, known as paneling. This process makes use of six or more cameras to produce a more detailed flattened image of the pack, which is then scanned by the system’s software for correct information and accurate printing at high speeds. The use of such specialist technology can enable manufacturers, even with traditionally challenging packaging formats, to ensure that every product on their line features labels that meet the strictest regulatory requirements.
Another key challenge that needs to be overcome by manufacturers is the growing need for increased line flexibility. More and more manufacturers are producing a range of products on the same production lines both to meet consumer demand and to boost the productivity of their factories.
In order to support this requirement for line flexibility, without compromising on regulatory compliance, manufacturers need to do more than just ensure that their label printing equipment is able to print the correct information for each of the many products made on the line. They also need to minimize the risk of incorrectly labelled products passing through the line and reaching end-consumers.
Advanced vision inspection equipment can help here by allowing manufacturers to minimize the risk of label mix-up even on lines producing a wide array of products. Mettler-Toledo CI Vision’s technology, for example, features the company’s proprietary CIVCore® software, which is capable of performing multiple forms of inspection simultaneously, thus maximizing line speeds. The latest version of CIVCore®, features a re-designed interface and increased connectivity support using Pack Tags. CIVCore®stores label information for a wide range of products, streamlining the set-up process for product changeovers with minimal downtime, capitalizingline efficiency. This makes vision inspection solutions ideal for production lines that perform a number of short product runs for different food flavors or limited edition products while also ensuring optimum compliance with new labelling regulations.
The perfect package
Around the world, legislation governing food labelling is becoming stricter and stricter, requiring food manufacturers to display more information about the contents of their products than ever before. In an increasingly globalised marketplace, with manufacturers producing food in one country and exporting it overseas, it is crucial that they do all they can to not only ensure that their labelling is compliant with each of the regulations in force in all of the countries they operate in.
Vision inspection technology can play an important role in this new world of strict labelling requirements, helping manufacturers to inspect every pack on their line to eliminate substandard packs before they leave the factory floor. Accurate labelling also enables manufacturers and retailers to trace ingredients and products throughout the supply chain. This is imperative in the event of a product recall as the source of the problem can be traced, and thus rectified.
Manufacturers should talk to product inspection experts about their labelling requirements to ensure they choose the most appropriate technology for the needs of their production line. In doing so, they will ensure they safeguard consumer health and wellbeing, as well as the reputation of their brand, in each of the countries and regions they trade in, while also maximizing line productivity to reduce operating costs and protect profit margins.
