Food labelling and information about foodstuff

The purpose of food labelling is to ensure that the consumers get truthful information about the content of the food. This is the reason labelling is obligated and prescribed under the law. Unpacked foodstuff must also be provided with information.

Responsibility for the correctness of the labelling of foodstuffs rests with the operator under whose name or trade name the foodstuff is being prepared, imported, sold or served. The information given in the label must be truthful, adequate and it must not mislead the consumer. The labelling obligation stands for online shops as well. In two-language municipality, such as Helsinki, the information given in labels must be both in Finnish and Swedish. The labelling must be easily legible, clear and understandable.

Packed foodstuff

Food labelling is obligated in foodstuff that is given as it is to consumers or foodservices. Packed foodstuff means foodstuff that is packed completely or partly before selling so that the contents can not be modified without opening or breaking the package.

Unpacked foodstuff

Unpacked foodstuff stands for foodstuff that is given to the final customer as it is and which:

• the consumer packs themselves
• is packed on consumers request in the place of sale
• is already prepacked in the place of sale for an immediate sell
• is served in the place of sale for the consumers immediate consumption

Immediate selling stands for selling foodstuff that is prepacked in the place of sale to speed up and to make the sales easier, e.g. sandwiches and take away –products.

More information about food labelling on Finnish Food Authority’s (Ruokavirasto) site

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20.10.2020 09:21