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Labeling law change: from Dec. 8 mandatory nutritional values and ingredient list on wine

The legal labeling requirements for wine products are supplemented by a mandatory nutrition declaration and ingredient list. This information may be provided on the label or by electronic means. All wine products produced and labeled from Dec. 8, 2023, must comply with the new labeling requirements. This is a major change for the wine industry.

The current labeling requirements for wine products are contained in Article 119 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. In addition, the legal requirements from Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 apply. A wine label must currently contain the following information:

  1. Alcohol content
  2. Allergens
  3. Content
  4. Bottler's name
  5. Producer, importer or seller
  6. Country of origin
  7. Lot number
  8. If it is a quality wine: the PDO or PGI designation, with the region of origin

In addition to the mandatory labeling requirements, the wine label can be supplemented by some optional indications. You can think of the pregnancy logo, quality or flavor indications, the vintage and/or grape variety(ies) or the name and/or owner of the winery.

Changes as of Dec. 8

There have been discussions in the European Union for many years about possibly expanding the legal requirements for alcoholic beverages. The current regulations are said to give consumers too little information. For wine products, the time has finally come: the regulations will be supplemented by three mandatory indications as of December 8, 2023:

  1. nutrition statement
  2. list of ingredients
  3. In the case of wine products that have undergone a de-alcoholization treatment and with an effective alcoholic strength by volume of less than 10%: the date of minimum durability.

The labeling requirements for flavored wine products, as contained in Regulation (EU) No. 251/2014, are also supplemented by the nutrition declaration and list of ingredients. For other alcoholic beverages, for the time being, it is not mandatory to indicate nutritional values and ingredients.

Electronic label

The nutrition declaration may be limited, on the package or on a label attached thereto, to the energy value expressed with the symbol 'E'. In this case, the full nutrition declaration must be available by electronic means. The producer can use a U-label for this purpose, where the information is available on the packaging via a QR code. The U-label was developed specifically for the wine sector. The list of ingredients may also be provided by electronic means, with the exception of the allergen statement. That must still be printed on the label.

What does the market do?

A survey of Précon contacts shows that probably few retailers are going to work with the electronic label. Apparently, we are still very attached to the paper label. It will also be some time before we will encounter the new labels in stores, since these rules apply to wines produced and labeled after Dec. 8.

Want to know more?

Précon can help you with the labeling of your wine. Contact us at info@precongroup.com or +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010.

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