The food safety authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) have released new guidelines about food labelling.

The guidelines outline legal requirements food businesses must follow when using marketing terms on food, such as:

• Artisan/Artisanal (must be made in small quantities by skilled craftspeople and produced at a single location)
• Farmhouse (must be made on a farm)
• Traditional (must be a recipe that has existed without significant modification for a minimum of 30 years)
• Natural (can’t be applied to a food when all other similar foods are natural, as set out by EU rules)

The new rules will go a long way in ensuring that food marketing terms are not used incorrectly to mislead customers.