- 31/12/2021
- Posted by: Dario Dongo
- Category: Questions and answers
Dear Dario good morning,
our company produces frozen foods with respect to which the TMC can reduce, indeed become an expiration date, in the event that the consumer is not able to guarantee after purchase the storage methods indicated on the label (-18 ° C).
To guarantee the consumption of the products in food safety conditions, even when they are stored in non-performing freezer drawers or in the refrigerator, we have decided to indicate on the labeling a series of terms of durability to which the different temperatures correspond.
I am submitting a table that I have seen on the labels of various frozen foods, to ask for confirmation on the correctness of this method of informing the consumer with respect to what is indicated in regulation (EU) 1169/11. Many thanks, Mauro
The lawyer Dario Dongo, Ph.D. in European food law, answers
Dear Mauro good morning,
the minimum storage term (TMC) - or, as the case may be, the Expiration date - is one of the mandatory information par excellence. (1)
TMC or expiration date, legal terms
TMC or expiration date must be indicated on the label with the appropriate terms established by Food Information Regulation, according to the official translations of its text in the various languages published in the OJEU. (2)
In Italy, the terms of durability must therefore be preceded by the phrases'to be consumed preferably by'(TMC) or'to be consumed within'(expiry date), without the possibility of any derogation.
The mandatory information on the label, please note, they must in fact be provided in the official languages established in each of the Member States where the product is marketed (EU regulation 1169/11, article 15).
TMC or expiration date, outer packaging
La shelf life it must also be indicated, please note, on the external packaging that contains several sales units, together with the particular storage conditions (in immediate proximity), name or company name and address of the responsible operator, batch code (essential for managing corrective actions in the event of food safety risk).
More TMC and / or expiration dates on the label
The hypothesis to refer to several dates within which the food can be consumed, in relation to the conservation methods, is not expressly contemplated by regulation (EU) 1169/11. (3) The responsible operator, consequently:
- must refer first of all to mandatory information. In the case of frozen products, 'to be consumed preferably by (dd / mm / yyyy) ' o 'by the end (month and year)', (4)
- must complete this information with the special storage conditions to be respected in order to maintain the frost chain ('to be kept at a temperature below -18 ° C'),
- may indicate, on a voluntary basis, the duty to consume the food in a shorter time if the consumer is unable to keep it at the indicated temperature conditions.
Voluntary information and food safety
Voluntary information on the label they must in any case be well substantiated, as well as clear and unambiguous. (5) All the more so since they are relevant for the purposes of safe consumption of the food, as in the present case.
The terms of durability to be indicated in the various storage hypotheses at non-optimal temperatures must therefore be justified by appropriate tests of shelf life on the various references, which must be recorded in internal procedures. (6)
Treasure hunt?
In any case, it is a must specify the point of the box / package / label where the minimum storage term or expiry date are indicated, if they are stamped in a different area than the one where the customary wording refers ('to be consumed preferably by').
This requirement is prescribed by regulation (EU) no. 1169/11 in Annex X, paragraph 1, point b. For the express purpose of prohibiting consumers from being forced into a 'treasure hunt' on the label to find essential information for the consumption of the product in safe conditions.
Cordially
Dario
Note
(1) The labeling directive (directive 1979/112 / EEC, repealed by directive 2000/13 / EC) prescribed the placement of TMC or expiry date in the same visual field of sales denomination and quality. This requirement was then removed from the reg. EU 1169/11
(2) Dario Dongo. TMC and expiration date. GIFTS (Great Italian Food Trade). March 31, 2018, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/tmc-e-data-di-scadenza
(3) The reg. EU 1169/11, on the other hand, provides for the duty to indicate 'the storage conditions and / or the period of consumption, if applicable', after opening the package (article 25.2)
(4) The indication of the complete date of day, month, year is considered, among other things, to be equivalent to the indication of the lot code, pursuant to dir. EU 91/2011
(5) Regulation (EU) no. 1169/11, article 36
(6) To this end, the tests may be performed on a food for each group of SKUs sharing similar characteristics (to be distinguished, in essence, by the presence of ingredients of animal origin and moisture levels that may vary the vulnerability to the risk of proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms)
