Answer: The official languages in Belgium are Dutch, French and German. The Belgian government (FAVV) advises the following: "The language on the label of a food product must correspond to the language of the community where the product is sold. In other words:

• Bilingual (French/Dutch) in the Brussels Region;
• Dutch in Flanders;
• French in Wallonia (except in the German-speaking community);
• German in the German-speaking community.

Answer: Added water as an ingredient must in principle be mentioned in the list of ingredients (unless e.g. used at concentrated ingredient), even if less than 5% water is added. There is an exception for added water that does not have to be listed in descending order of weight in the list of ingredients. Note that this exception does not specify that water at < 5% need not be listed in the list of ingredients.

If the water is < 5%, then this amount is not important for determining the correct order of decreasing weight in the list of ingredients; the ingredient water must be mentioned in the list of ingredients, but may e.g. be listed as the last ingredient. The exception that added water at < 5% does not necessarily have to be listed in the appropriate place in descending order of weight does not apply to meat, meat preparations, unprocessed fishery products and bivalve mollusks; for these products, added water must always be listed in the appropriate place in descending order of weight.

To prevent the weight of the glaze being sold as fish weight, the net weight of the fish or shrimp must be listed without the glaze. This water is not part of the fish and therefore does not need to be listed in the ingredient list. For more information on correctly labeling water in a glace layer, see section 11.4 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: 'Legal denominator' is a term that does not appear in European Regulation 1169/2011. This regulation uses the term 'denomination'. For more information, see chapter 7 of the NVWA Handbook. To use the nutrition claim 'fat-free', the conditions in the Annex of the European Claims Regulation 1924/2006 must be met.

A: Yes, it is mandatory if this legal designation is mandated. There are also legal designations that may be used voluntarily. For more information, see section 7.6 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: The legal requirements for naming must also be met for baby food (see chapter 6 of the NVWA Handbook). If a fantasy name is voluntarily used on the front, it may not be misleading, confusing or ambiguous (Art. 36, paragraph 2 Regulation 1169/2011). However, a fantasy name that is actually only "fantasy" is permitted.

Answer: The font size of the content entry is defined in Annex I, section 3.1 of European Directive 76/211 (see section 11.5 of the NVWA Handbook). This Directive must be used for all content entries regardless of whether or not the e-sign is used. If the e-sign is used, the letter "℮" in the ℮ sign must be at least 3 mm high.

Answer: Operators supplying other operators should ensure that sufficient and correct information is transmitted so that the receiving operator can comply with all labeling obligations (Art. 8(8) of Regulation 1169/2011). For information on the legal requirements for packaged food in the B2B channel, see section 21.2 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: The website where the product is offered for sale does not have to include an expiration date. However, an expiration date must be available upon delivery (see section 6.4 of the NVWA Handbook).

Answer: If the shelf life of the food is limited after opening the package, a use-by date must be indicated. The indication 'perishable' is in that case not clear enough because it can be interpreted differently (e.g. 2 or 4 days, Article 25(2) and Annex X, point 1,b of Regulation 1169/2011). For more information, see section 12.3 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: The legislation allows for the inclusion of a reference to the expiration date, but it should "not become a search warrant. The reference must be specific and clear. For more information, see Chapter 11 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: European Regulation 1169/2011 prescribes exactly how the date of minimum durability must be indicated. This can be done in the following two ways:

• "Best before [date itself with day or reference to place on label where date can be found]." "Best before ..." should be used if the date is mentioned with day in it; or
• "Best before end [date itself or reference to place on label where date can be found]." "Best before end" should be used if the date does not specify a day.

In practice, "up to" in this entry means "up to and including."

The abbreviation THT is not allowed on the sleeve or foil. Please note that 'Best before' can only be used if the foil states the date with the day, e.g. August 10. If no day is mentioned in this date on the foil, then 'Best before end' should be used on the sleeve. For more information, see section 12.3 of the NVWA Handbook.

A: No, 'best before' is sufficient on the package if the clip shows the date with the day in it, e.g. July 28. If no day is mentioned in this date on the clip, then 'best before end' must be used on the packaging. European Regulation 1169/2011 prescribes exactly how the date of minimum durability must be stated. For more information, see section 12.3 of the NVWA Handbook.

Answer: Any product for the Dutch market must comply with the European and Dutch labeling rules for that product. Also, the product must be safe and must be found out if the product is allowed in Europe/Netherlands with that composition and designation.

Answer: The regulation referred to in the question refers to the amendment of Regulation 1333/2008 by Regulation 2020/771. This amendment deletes the colorant 'annatto, bixin, norbixin (E 160b)' from the EU list of permitted food additives. And instead, two separate food additives, namely annatto bixin (E 160b(i)) and annatto norbixin (E 160b(ii)) are included. Different limits apply to these additives. If either of these two additives is used, then either the correct name of the additive or the correct E number including i or ii must be listed next to the category name "colorant.