During 2003, the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs (ODCA) carried out a survey of foodstuffs to establish the level of compliance with the Food Labelling Regulations, in particular with regard to labelling in the English language. It is compulsory under the Regulations for all products to be labelled in the English language irrespective of whether or not they are labelled in other languages.

Inspectors from the ODCA carried out inspections in 48 premises ranging from mainstream supermarkets, specialist delicatessens and ethnic shops countrywide.  The first inspection showed that, of the 1,099 products examined, 46 (4.2%) were non-compliant (Figure 1).



Figure 1: Percentage of Labels Compliant/Non-Compliant with Food Labelling Regulations

A second inspection followed up on the premises that were previously found to be selling non-compliant products. The results here were that of the 46 products previously in breach, 29 were now in compliance.

Figure 2 illustrates the overall level of compliance following first and second visits i.e. an improvement in compliance from 95.8% to 98.4%.  The ODCA have since followed up on the remaining issues.

Figure 2: Overall Level of Compliance with Food Labelling Regulations