Although most of the regulations only come into effect on 1 March 2011 - giving non-compliant food manufacturers and importers 9 months now to get their houses in order - there is one exception, namely the misleading practice of labelling contents as a “negative percentage” (such as “95% fat-free”). From 1 June 2010 disclosure must be correctly stated in the positive (“5% fat”), and that applies not only to fat content, but to other components as well (sodium, energy, cholesterol etc).

“Trans fat”, with its reputation as a significant health risk, is of particular interest to consumers, but will unfortunately only be dealt with later in separate regulations. A draft of these is currently open for public comment until the end of June.