EU nutrition declaration requirements: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 explained
What a prepacked food sold in the EU must declare under the Food Information to Consumers regulation: the mandatory seven-line nutrition declaration per 100 g or 100 ml, energy in kJ and kcal, salt instead of sodium, the fixed order and layout, the rounding and tolerance rules, the 14 allergens emphasised in the ingredient list, who is exempt, and the voluntary front-of-pack schemes. Every format below opens in the generator, pre-set to the rule.
Reviewed against Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 · Page updated October 2, 2026
What the regulation covers
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, the Food Information to Consumers regulation (FIC), is directly applicable in all 27 member states and, through the EEA agreement, in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It governs every mandatory particular on a prepacked food: the name of the food, the list of ingredients, allergens, quantitative ingredient declaration (QUID), net quantity, date marking, storage conditions, the business operator's name and address, country of origin where required, instructions for use, alcoholic strength, and, since 13 December 2016, a mandatory nutrition declaration.
Member states may add national rules only where the regulation allows (language, some origin labelling, deposit schemes), so one label design works across the single market once it is in the right languages. This page covers the nutrition declaration, the allergen rules and the front-of-pack schemes; it is written from the regulation text and the Commission's guidance documents, with the review date and source shown under the title.
The mandatory declaration: seven lines, per 100 g or 100 ml
Article 30(1) fixes the content: energy, then the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. Energy is expressed in both kilojoules and kilocalories (kJ first), the others in grams. Everything is declared per 100 g or per 100 ml of the food as sold; a per-portion or per-consumption-unit column may be added, but never replaces the per-100 figures. The order and the nomenclature are fixed by Annex XV and may not be changed: "carbohydrate" not "carbs", "saturates" not "saturated fat", and "salt" not "sodium".
Salt is the sodium-equivalent: sodium in grams multiplied by 2.5. Where the salt content is due solely to naturally occurring sodium, a statement to that effect may appear next to the declaration. Energy is calculated with the conversion factors in Annex XIV: carbohydrate 17 kJ/4 kcal per gram, protein 17 kJ/4 kcal, fat 37 kJ/9 kcal, alcohol 29 kJ/7 kcal, polyols 10 kJ/2.4 kcal, fibre 8 kJ/2 kcal, organic acids 13 kJ/3 kcal, erythritol 0. The generator applies these factors and the 2.5 salt conversion automatically; the EU 1169/2011 format page shows the rendered declaration.
What you may add, and the reference intakes
Article 30(2) lists the only nutrients that may supplement the mandatory seven, each in a fixed position: mono-unsaturates and polyunsaturates after saturates; polyols and starch after sugars; fibre after carbohydrate's sub-items; and the vitamins and minerals of Annex XIII, which may be declared only when present in a significant amount: at least 15% of the nutrient reference value per 100 g or 100 ml (7.5% for beverages), or 15% per portion for single-portion packages. Anything else, such as omega-3 or caffeine, cannot sit inside the declaration and must be handled as a separate voluntary statement or claim.
The declaration may express energy and the six nutrients as a percentage of the reference intakes for an average adult: 8,400 kJ / 2,000 kcal, fat 70 g, saturates 20 g, carbohydrate 260 g, sugars 90 g, protein 50 g, salt 6 g. Where a %RI column is used, the statement "Reference intake of an average adult (8 400 kJ / 2 000 kcal)" must appear in close proximity. Vitamins and minerals are expressed as a percentage of the Annex XIII reference values. Percentages are voluntary, but if you use them on the front of pack (a "GDA"-style repeat of energy alone, or energy plus fat, saturates, sugars and salt), Article 33 fixes what the repeat may contain.
| Per 100g | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 2092 kJ / 500 kcal |
| Fat | 25 g |
| of which saturates | 13 g |
| Carbohydrate | 64 g |
| of which sugars | 36 g |
| Protein | 7.1 g |
| Salt | 0.8 g |
| Fat / Lipides | 7 g | 9 % |
| Saturated / Saturés | 3.5 g + Trans 0 g | 18 % |
| Cholesterol / Cholestérol | 10 mg | 3 % |
| Sodium | 95 mg | 4 % |
| Carbohydrate / Glucides | 18 g | 7 % |
| Fibre / Fibres | 1 g | 4 % |
| Sugars / Sucres | 10 g | 10 % |
| Protein / Protéines | 2 g | |
| Vitamin D / Vitamine D | 0 mcg | 0 % |
| Calcium | 10 mg | 1 % |
| Iron / Fer | 1 mg | 4 % |
| Potassium | 45 mg | 1 % |
*5 % ou moins c'est peu, 15 % ou plus c'est beaucoup
Layout, type size and the formats
The declaration goes in one field of vision, in a tabular format with the numbers aligned if space permits; where it does not, a linear format is allowed. Like every mandatory particular it must be printed in characters with an x-height of at least 1.2 mm, reduced to 0.9 mm on packages whose largest surface is under 80 cm². It must be legible, indelible and not hidden by other material, and the values must be for the food as sold (or as prepared, if preparation instructions are given and the declaration says so).
The declaration must be in a language easily understood by consumers of the member state where the product is sold, which in practice means the national language or languages; multilingual packs are common and permitted. The generator renders the EU format in the site's supported languages from one recipe.
Rounding and tolerances
The regulation does not prescribe rounding increments itself; the Commission's guidance on tolerances (December 2012) does, and enforcement authorities apply it. Energy rounds to the nearest 1 kJ and 1 kcal. Fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and fibre round to the nearest 1 g at 10 g or more, to the nearest 0.1 g between 0.5 g and 10 g, and at 0.5 g or less may be shown as "0 g" or "<0.5 g". Saturates, mono- and polyunsaturates follow the same pattern with a 0.1 g floor ("0 g" or "<0.1 g"). Salt rounds to the nearest 0.1 g at 1 g or more, to the nearest 0.01 g between 0.0125 g and 1 g, and below that may be shown as "0 g" or "<0.01 g". Vitamins and minerals are rounded to three significant figures.
The same guidance sets the tolerances an inspector allows between the declared value and a laboratory result: for example ±8 g of fat per 100 g when the fat content is above 40 g, ±20% between 10 and 40 g, ±1.5 g below 10 g, with equivalent bands for the other nutrients and tighter bands where a claim is made. A declaration computed from a database is acceptable under Article 31(4) as long as the values are averages established from the manufacturer's analysis, from known or actual average values of the ingredients, or from generally established and accepted data, so the recipe data must be accurate.
The 14 allergens, emphasised in the ingredient list
Annex II lists fourteen substances or products causing allergies or intolerances: cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, milk, nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamias), celery, mustard, sesame, sulphur dioxide and sulphites above 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/l, lupin and molluscs. Each must be declared within the list of ingredients with a clear reference to the Annex II name, emphasised through a typeset that distinguishes it from the rest of the list: bold, italics, capitals, underlining or a contrasting colour. A separate "Contains:" box is not a substitute; where there is no ingredient list, the words "contains" followed by the allergen are used instead.
The specific cereal or nut must be named ("wheat", "almonds"), not the category, and the allergen must be repeated every time it appears as part of a different ingredient. Voluntary "may contain" precautionary statements are outside the regulation and are governed by national guidance. The generator's ingredient statement bolds the Annex II names automatically as the recipe is built; the allergen feature explains the logic.
Who is exempt from the nutrition declaration
Annex V lists the foods exempt from the mandatory declaration (though not from the rest of the regulation): unprocessed products comprising a single ingredient or category of ingredients; processed products whose only processing is maturing and which comprise a single ingredient; water; herbs, spices and their mixtures; salt and salt substitutes; table-top sweeteners; coffee and tea extracts and infusions; fermented vinegars; flavourings, food additives and processing aids; gelatine, jam-setting compounds and yeast; chewing gum; food in packaging or containers whose largest surface is less than 25 cm²; and food, including handcrafted food, supplied directly by the manufacturer in small quantities to the final consumer or to local retail establishments supplying the final consumer.
Alcoholic beverages over 1.2% alcohol by volume are exempt from both the ingredient list and the nutrition declaration under Article 16(4), though a voluntary energy-only declaration is permitted and the wine sector's own 2023 rules require an ingredient list and a nutrition declaration, on-label or via a QR code. As everywhere, a nutrition or health claim (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006) or the addition of vitamins and minerals makes the full declaration mandatory regardless of exemption.
Front of pack: Nutri-Score, Keyhole and the rest
The FIC allows member states to recommend a voluntary front-of-pack scheme (Article 35), and the EU-wide harmonised label promised in the Farm to Fork strategy has not been adopted. What exists is national and voluntary: Nutri-Score (A to E) in France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg and Switzerland, on the revised algorithm phased in from 2024; the Nordic Keyhole in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland; Italy's NutrInform Battery. Because these schemes are voluntary, a brand using them on one market's packaging must still meet that scheme's registration and usage rules.
The free Nutri-Score calculator grades a product on the current algorithm, and the Nutri-Score format renders the badge in the generator; the algorithm guide covers the 2024 changes in detail.
The rest of the label
Name of the food: the legal name where one exists, otherwise the customary or a descriptive name, with the physical condition or treatment (powdered, smoked, defrosted) where its omission would mislead. QUID: the percentage of an ingredient that appears in the name, is emphasised on the label or is essential to characterise the food. Net quantity in metric units, with the "℮" mark available under the average-fill system. Date marking: "use by" for microbiologically highly perishable food, "best before" or "best before end" for the rest. Business operator: the name and EU address of the operator under whose name the food is marketed, or the importer. Origin: mandatory for certain meats, honey, olive oil and where omission would mislead, and for the primary ingredient where it differs from the food's stated origin (Regulation (EU) 2018/775).
The generator produces the nutrition declaration, the ingredient list with emphasised allergens and the QUID from one recipe; the other particulars are set in the label's text fields. For a UK product, the same core rules apply as assimilated law with UK-specific additions: see the UK food labelling guide.