The product declaration explains a product’s ingredients

The ingredients are listed in descending order

Legislation requires that ingredients are listed in descending order, i.e. main ingredients are listed first.

Compound ingredients

Compound ingredients that constitute less than 25% of a product (e.g. dressing in a sandwich) can be listed as one item without having to list the individual ingredients.

Ingredients that produce a particular flavour

If a product contains ingredients that, for example, give a special flavour, and if these ingredients are mentioned in the product’s name or are illustrated on the packaging, the content of the ingredient must be stated in percentage in the product declaration (e.g. asparagus in asparagus soup). This also applies if a product description leads the consumer to believe that a specific ingredient is present (e.g. meat in a meatball). This is the principle behind “quantitative declaration”.

Additives

The final ingredients in the list of components are additives that only form a small part of the product. Additives must be declared regardless of quantity unless they are “technical agents”.

A technical agent is, for instance, an anti-lumping substance in salt which prevents salt from becoming lumpy. Since this is not intended to have an effect on the finished product (e.g. a cooked ham), it does not have to be listed.

Additives must have a function in the finished product and only approved additives can be used. Approved additives are listed in a Positive list, which also sets out which materials may be used for what products and in what quantities.

There are several reasons why Tulip’s products contain additives. These include:

1. Giving the product an attractive appearance (colouring in e.g. brown sauce and red sausages)

2. Preventing mixtures of fat and water separating (emulsifiers/stabilisers in bearnaise sauce and liver paté)

3. Making the product safe and durable (preservatives and antioxidants in cooked meat)

Additives are listed by stating the category (function) first and then the name of the additive or its E number as it appears in the Positive list (e.g. the preservative nitrite or E 250).

Nutritional values

As well as the ingredients, the declaration often contains the product’s nutritional values, i.e. the average content of protein, carbohydrate, fat and energy per 100g The values for protein, carbohydrate and fat are determined at Tulip’s laboratory (chemical analysis).

Example: Ham

Protein: 19g, Carbohydrate: 2g Fat: 4g

The energy content must be given in kilojoules (Kj) and kilocalories (kcal). For this calculation, the energy content per gram of protein, carbohydrate and fat must be established.

Protein and carbohydrate contain 17 kilojoules per gram while fat contains 37 kilojoule per gram.

The number of kilocalories is obtained by dividing the number of kiljoules by 4.18. The above example contains the following number of kilojoules: (19 x 17 + 2 x 17 + 4 x 37) kJ = 505 kJ. Converted to kilocalorites (kcal) this is: 505: 4.18 = 121 kcal.