The importance of a CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE label

How many times have we happened to go to the supermarket, buy a product and not be able to find the expiry date or instructions for use on the packaging? The label of a food product is fundamental, it represents the identity card of the product we are purchasing which allows us to know the food and its ingredients.

Consumers generally want to be informed about products in a clear and concise way, and do not want to be misled by popular marketing terms and complicated descriptions.

For this reason, the label of ALL food products is developed following precise rules established by European legislation which all those who intend to market a product must comply with, and is organized in such a way as to describe the product, as we will see later on, in clearly, legibly and indelible.

And this is precisely what we at IoBoscoVivo try to do, applying the Clean Label concept to our products: clear, short and easily understandable and readable labels.

Now let's see together what the fundamental rules are for understanding a label:

1. The label must inform the consumer, therefore it must be clear, legible and indelible
2. It is mandatory to include some specific information on the label that allows us to fully identify the product, and these are:

• The name of the food must also indicate the physical state in which the product is found, such as "powder" or "frozen".
• The list of ingredients, i.e. of all the substances used in production, clearly highlighting the allergens so that they can be easily identified
• The net quantity of the product by weight or volume
• The best before date (TMC) or expiry date: the TMC is used when the product has a long shelf life and is indicated by the words "Best before". The expiry date is used instead in the case of perishable products and is preceded by the words "use by".
• Storage conditions and methods of use
• The country of origin or place of origin
• The name and headquarters of the manufacturer, or packager, or of a seller established in the EU
• The batch code or other wording that allows the product to be identified
• The Nutrition Declaration must provide information on the caloric and nutritional content of the food referring to 100g or 100ml of product
• The actual alcoholic strength by volume for drinks containing more than 1.2% alcohol by volume

3. The order in which the ingredients appear on the label is not random, the various components must appear in decreasing order of quantity: we will therefore find the first ingredient to be the one present in the greatest quantity and the last one to be present in the smallest quantity.
4. It is usually advised not to rely too much on the image shown on the packaging because it is for illustrative purposes only. In order to be as transparent as possible in our IoBoscoVivo products you will always find photos of the products taken by us and included on the label!
5. With the same quality and price, it is a good idea to prefer foods packaged with recycled/recyclable material. IBV products follow our BE GREEN philosophy, the packaging is in fact 100% recyclable.
6. The seasonality of products, the abandonment of pesticides, the protection of the environment are concepts evaluated daily when choosing our food products. The Bio (Organic) certification allows the consumer to identify foods with more restrictive parameters in terms of environmental pollutants, toxins and pesticides. All IoBoscoVivo products are certified organic foods, in fact you will find the European logo with the green leaf!

CURIOSITY: On our labels of dried Shiitake Mushrooms and Granulated Shiitake Mushrooms the barcode represents the stems of numerous mushrooms ( https://ioboscovivo.com/shop/ ).

Write to us with questions and curiosities, and contact us for any information by email: info@ioboscovivo.it or on our social networks: facebook (IoBoscoVivo), instagram (@ioboscovivo_healthy).