Labelling of foods

Swedish National Food Agency's regulations amending the Swedish National Food Agency’s regulations (LIVSFS 2005:9) on the use of a particular symbol

The ‘Keyhole’ is a voluntary label for foods which enables customers to make better choices on the basis of the fat, sugar, salt and fibre content of those categories of food given in Annex 2 to the Swedish National Food Agency’s regulations (LIVSFS 2005:9) on the use of a particular symbol. The Keyhole symbol is jointly used in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The scientific support for the drafting of the conditions is provided by the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR). Conditions and food groups reflect the NNR and the eating habits in the countries concerned. General conditions required in order to label or display food with the Keyhole are laid down in the regulations.

Only conditions that have been considered relevant for the respective foods are determined, for example for milk there are only criteria regarding fat content. The labelling means that a complete assessment of the nutritional quality of the product has been made. The Keyhole can be used in the presentation and labelling of prepacked and non-packed foods that are included in the food groups in Annex 2 if they meet all the nutritional conditions laid down for the food concerned. Restrictions on the use of the Keyhole are set out in §§ 3-4 of the regulations. No registration and no fees are required in order to be allowed to use the Keyhole. Food manufacturers who use the Keyhole must ensure that they comply with the provisions. The inspection authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance with the provisions of the regulations.

The draft regulation concerns amendments to the current regulations (LIVSFS 2005:9), which were last notified in 2014 (2014/315/S). Norway, Denmark and Iceland are making corresponding amendments to their regulations. The amendments mainly concern the conditions in Annex 2 of food groups 26-31, ready meals and food group 25, vegetable products. Most of the amendments are being made in order to expand the food groups to include more products, especially products with more whole grains and a larger proportion of vegetables. It is suggested that the condition for saturated fat is stated in grams per 100 grams instead of percentage of total fat content.