jan 2015retailers face costs of £100k per product line following labelling changesthe eu food information regulation fir came into effect last month, and if manufacturers and retailers fail to take the new legislation into account they can face costs of £100,000.in the event of a fir noncompliance, products would have be to discarded, labels redesigned and replacement stock distributed, accumulating up to £100k per product. this figure doesn&39t include the £5,000 fine for noncompliant labelling, and the lost sales when the products are recalled.the estimated figures come from software company trace one, which claims the average cost of a label change is £3,000 per product. this means that to stay compliant with the new eu labelling legislation, large retailers with thousands of products could have spent up to £30m on fir compliance.tracey cranney, operations manager at qadex, said, "yes the cost of redesigning and producing new labels is big, but the consequences of noncompliance are catastrophic. one small error on the packaging could result in a £105,000 cost per product line, so it&39s critical that retailers get these fir changes right."the majority of the legislation applies to prepackaged foods, and there will be more rules added on 1st april 2015 and 16th december 2016. the key requirements areallergen information must be emphasised in the ingredients listnutrition labelling required in a consistent formatminimum font size for mandatory informationdate of product freezing for frozen fish and meatcompositional standards for minced meatcaffeine content of high caffeine drinks must be stated, and a warning for pregnant women and childrenadded water of 5 in meat and fish must be declared.in addition, from april 2015 country of origin information will be required for the meat of sheep, pigs, goats and poultry.tracey added, "the transparency of food products has long been an issue for consumers after food scares and scandals now the eu fir rules make it compulsory. there will now have to be a closer collaboration between retailers, suppliers, packers and manufacturers to ensure everything is "what it says on the tin" and we certainly welcome that."to find out more about qadex&39s food safety and brand protection solution visit httpwww.qadex.complease direct press queries to jade cayton. email jade@dakotadigital.co.uk or tel 01623 428996 
