Your products are ready to go, but how about the paperwork?

Food ingredient labels are often culture-specific and a potential source of translation problems. Gastronomy is deeply rooted in people’s cultural identity and health, and discovering exotic tastes from far-flung destinations has been a passion throughout history. The exponential demand for international products is making accurate, high-quality language services essential for streamlining regulatory processes and keeping food and drink flowing.

The food and beverage industry has always been globalized. As far back as the Iron Age and the Roman Empire, trade networks were spreading throughout empires, consequently forming sprawling food systems to serve large cities and fuel nascent economies. Today, these systems are massively diverse and complex. As you read this, imagine the countless tons of animal products, plants, and plant products being transported by land, sea, and air between continents and countries to satisfy the needs and desires of approximately 8.1 billion people on Earth.

Manufacturers and suppliers can only prosper worldwide if they showcase and deliver products to buyers and consumers in global markets and comply with the plethora of regulations on marketing, food labelling, allergens, and language that are in force in most countries. These days, whether you are a major multinational company or an SME, international food and drink exports entail a hefty set of challenges, one of which is the language barrier.

Food tags: Watch your words

When it comes to marketing, there are limitations to what you can and can’t say about your products. For example, in China, the Advertising Law expressly bans the words “national/state level”, “top class”, and “best” from being used in advertising. In some countries, there are specific rules that govern marketing messages, although there is no pervading international standard. In the European Union, there are rules on using words that suggest superior quality when they are unrelated to the actual production process, meaning that you cannot claim that something is “artisan”, “traditional”, or “natural” without justification. In the UK, for example, you must not make misleading claims about your product’s quantity or size, price, ingredients, origin, endorsements, or what it can do.

Some examples of the materials and information you might want or need to translate could include:

▪ Ingredients and food packaging labels
▪ Nutrition labels
▪ Allergen information
▪ Food marketing websites
▪ Social media
▪ HACCP documentation
▪ Recipes
▪ Menus
▪ Quality standards
▪ Product descriptions
▪ Instruction manuals for food processing equipment
▪ Food manufacturing documentation
▪ Videos and apps
▪ Food safety courses

The letter of the food labelling law

Food and drink exporters and importers must make sure that all essential product information is available to their customers in a language they understand, not just for marketing purposes, also for safety reasons. Entrusting these important tasks to a well-organized, experienced team of legal and human language experts avoids costly and reputation-threatening errors and is the best way to ensure the success of your export business.

Before translating a product label, it is important to do some homework and see if there are country‑specific factors that might require special attention. For example, the length of the words in the target language might have to be checked to ensure they’ll fit on the label, or maybe a different font will have to be used. There are also different labelling laws in different parts of the world, and labels must often be displayed in the official languages of the countries where the products are sold. Failure to do so could mean penalties.

What kinds of labels do I need to translate?

There are many types of labels that have to be translated into the language or languages of the markets where your products are sold, including brand labels, descriptive labels, and informative labels, all serving to ensure that your products are easy to recognize. Descriptive labels contain information such as instructions for users and product handling, while informative labels provide consumers with additional details such as expiration dates, storage recommendations, and information about the manufacturer. All these labels are essential to consumers, and without them, you won’t be able to export or import food (including pre-packaged foods), beverages, or additives.

When it comes to European Union food labelling regulations, information on ingredients for easy label reading must be included on the product packaging; however, sometimes this packaging is lost or removed before consumption (such as at the deli counter in the supermarket). Providing this information in different languages on your website allows international consumers to make informed choices. In addition to ensuring that important allergen information is included on labels, there are numerous cultural, religious, and other lifestyle factors to consider. Some of the common declarations that are made for food and drink exports include “haram” (forbidden for Muslims), “kosher” for Jewish people, and if a product contains alcohol, which many people avoid for a variety of reasons.

The laws covering product packaging and labels can differ considerably from country to country. In the United States, these matters are governed by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA). There are some very specific requirements regarding how you can present information. For example, the name of the food source of a major food allergen must appear in parentheses following the name of the ingredient [examples: “lecithin (soy),” “flour (wheat),” and “whey (milk)”], or they must appear immediately after or next to the list of ingredients in a “contains” statement (example: “Contains wheat, milk, and soy”).

In the United Kingdom, these matters are regulated by the Food Standards Agency. All food is subject to general food labelling requirements, and the information provided must be accurate and must not be misleading. Product-specific regulations control certain foods. These include bread and flour, cocoa and chocolate, soluble coffee, milk products, honey, fruit juices and nectars, infant formula, jams and marmalade, meat products (including sausages, burgers, and pies), fish, natural mineral waters, spreadable fats, sugars, irradiated food, and foods containing genetic modification (GM). While the UK currently adheres to EU legislation (for example, many products for the EU must be CE-marked), it is essential to do your research on what’s required if you’re exporting to another country.

Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) and Natasha’s Law

One recently passed national allergen law in the UK is Natasha’s Law, named after a teenager who suffered a fatal reaction to a prepared baguette. At the time, when food was prepared on the premises where it was being sold, there was no requirement to display allergy information on the label, leaving allergy sufferers vulnerable. But now that they are protected by this new law, which requires full ingredient labelling on pre-packaged foods for sale, they can be confident when eating and drinking a larger number of products. In brief, empowering your customer with this information in their language is a highly effective strategy, which can be achieved with the help of a skilled team.

In the European Union, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires that mandatory food information appear in a language that is easily understood by consumers of the Member States where a food is marketed. There are 24 official languages in the territory (Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish). Within the territory of the Member States where a food is marketed, a country could stipulate that the particulars must be given in one or more languages from among the official languages of the Union.

Mandatory food information must be marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible and, where appropriate, indelible and must not be hidden, obscured, detracted from, or interrupted by any other written or pictorial matter or any other intervening material.

Food and Culture

Anyone who’s gone on vacation in a foreign country will have a funny menu translation fail to tell you about. In fact, there are plenty of web pages featuring some hilarious translation mistakes (thanks for the giggle, Google Translate). As amusing as this may be, you certainly don’t want your website, menu, packaging, or marketing messages to go viral for the wrong reason! This is just a way of reminding you that all the details of your packaging must be checked and double-checked by native speakers to ensure you’re not disrespecting the cultural norms of your target country, or simply looking foolish. An in-country translation and localization expert with a perfect understanding of the language and cultural idiosyncrasies will ensure that the target language has the marketing impact you need to achieve success.

The investment you make in professional language services is also an investment in your global branding because your website, multi-media content, and marketing materials will be equally effective and have a high impact worldwide. At CPSL, we have extensive experience assisting major players of the food and beverage industry with everything from marketing to regulatory documentation. Choose us, and we’ll assign language experts who both understand multilingual SEO strategies and have marketing skills. We can help send your visibility sky-high, while always being mindful of worldwide labelling requirements and other needs, thereby streamlining all the regulatory processes and preventing unwanted delays when crossing borders.

So, now you know how relying on professional language services can prevent not only confused and offended customers but also lost opportunities and sales, delayed product launches, expensive fixes, and legal liability. And finally, always make sure to have your packaging double-checked by an in-country compliance expert. Like translators, they are up to date on their country’s legislation and can assure you that your packaging is fully compliant.

If you want to convey a brand image or achieve a certain look and feel, it’s important to be aware that packaging can be almost as important as the product itself.

As you can see, if you want to sell world-wide, you’ll need a language services provider like CPSL to help you, with an extensive network of excellent language professionals. Please feel free to contact us for more information about how our language services can help you make your export business a success. We’ll be happy to assist you.