The case in summary Eight out of ten Norwegians struggle to read the date marking on food products, and for those with poor eyesight it is almost impossible. Almost half of those asked in a survey say they have thrown away food during the past year, because it has been impossible or difficult to find the date marking. Blindeforbundet wishes to comply with guidelines from the responsible ministries on how the date marking should be, including a universal symbol for date marking, larger font and fixed location. The Q dairies have been successful in labeling their milk with “best before, but not bad after”, and have also adopted larger fonts and placed the date marking on both sides of the top of the milk cartons. Other milk producers have followed suit. Henriette Harbitz has problems with her eyesight. At worst, she gets a headache from reading unclear date markings on food products. – This is one of the worst. They have noticed the bow in the plastic lid, she says of the liver paste package. She is not alone in struggling with it, a recent survey shows. – Think how it is for those who are completely blind or see even worse than me. Can you read the date markings on these items? Photo: Oda Flaten Lødemel Little writing and lots of numbers. Here, the date marking is placed on the transparent plastic lid of the prawn salad. On the turkey ham package, the producers have seen the date on the side of the plastic packaging. Here, the date is written in black on a salmon-red background. On this package of meat dough, the date marking is printed on a red background. Can you read what is written here? On the chicken fillet, the date is printed right on the plastic. A lot of trouble A survey shows that Norwegians generally find it difficult to find and read the date markings on food products. Almost half of those who responded say they have thrown away food during the past year, because it has been impossible or difficult to find the date marking. Too high a figure, believes the Association of the Blind. – When people without visual impairment struggle to find it, it goes without saying that it is extra challenging for those with impaired vision, says Martin Malkenes of the Association of the Blind in Sogn og Fjordane. Martin Malkenes is the leader of the Association of the Blind in Sogn og Fjordane. He thinks it should be easy to improve the date marking on food products. Photo: Oda Flaten Lødemel For him the solution is obvious. The labeling must be better: Thicker fonts, larger numbers and better color contrasts. – Surely it can’t be difficult to get the date placed in a frame the same size as, for example, the barcode?, he asks. The main findings of the survey Almost half of those who responded say they have thrown away food during the past year, because it has been impossible or difficult to find the date label. Almost eight out of ten have experienced that it has been difficult or impossible to find or read the date stamp on a product during the past year. Six out of ten would probably not have bought a food product if they could not find or read the date stamp. Respons Analysis has carried out the survey on order from the Norwegian Association of the Blind. They have asked questions to a representative selection of citizens in the country, including people with completely normal visual function. Get design requirements for the design There are three ministries that are responsible for the food information regulations. Ministry of Health and Care, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Trade and Fisheries. The Association for the Blind wants to get guidelines from them on how the date marking should be. Among other things, they want a universal symbol for date marking, larger font and want it to be in a fixed place. – We want date marking in black letters on a white background. Then most people, visually impaired and those who are blind, can read it, says the leader of the Association of the Blind, Terje Andre Olsen. – Why hasn’t it happened before? – Now the producers probably have other considerations to take into account when it comes to the packaging, but I think there must be changes in the regulations. On a shopping trip, Harbitz often has to concentrate intensely to see the date marking. When she can’t read it, she has to ask shop assistants for help. Sometimes he skips buying groceries. Photo: Oda Flaten Lødemel All ready-packaged foods must be marked with a use-by date. There are two ways to do it: “Last consumption day” and “Best before”. The minimum font size must be 1.3 millimeters on mandatory information. On smaller packages, the size must be at least 0.9 millimetres. – It is so small that it is difficult to see, even with good eyesight, says Olsen. Otherwise, there are no other requirements for font, color or where the marking should be placed. – The worst consequences are that people throw away food that is good, says Olsen. Success with “often good after” In 2017, the Q dairies started labeling their milk with “best before, but not bad after”. Later, they used larger fonts, after the Association of the Blind raised the problem with them. Last year they started with date marking on both sides of the top of the milk cartons, following input from customers and shops. To make it happen, the dairy had to change the entire machine that prints the date marking. – There was a lot of testing to get it done so that it would be legible, says brand manager Pål Rasmussen. Gradually, “best before, often good after” and “not bad after”, and the placement at the top, have become standard on most milk cartons. It has been a success. The number of households that do not empty expired milk down the sink has doubled since 2017, according to a survey by the Information Office for Milk and Dairy Products. This is what the label looked like before the Q-dairies started with “not bad after”. This is how it looked when the label “not bad after” came into place. Here with larger writing on the top of the carton. And this is what the milk looks like after the manufacturer started marking both sides of the “ridge” on the carton with the date. – It is gratifying to hear that a few extra words on the carton actually help, says Mette Nygård Havre, who was behind the initiative for “not bad after”. Now Nygård Havre hopes that more food producers will get better at date marking. – It is so important, and in any case if we are to manage to avoid more food waste. What happens to the regulations? news has been in contact with the three ministries responsible for the food information regulations. We wanted to know to what extent the rules for date marking can be changed in line with the wishes of the Association for the Blind. After being sent to five different ministries, the Ministry of Health and Social Care responds as follows: This is their response… On the shopping trip in Sogndal, Harbitz is pleasantly surprised by the labeling on frozen fish, because there is air around and clear writing. – It is annoying when simple things could have been solved in a simple way. Photo: Oda Flaten Lødemel The Ministry of Agriculture and Food, to whom we first made inquiries, forwarded us to the Ministry of Health and Care, who forwarded us to the Ministry of Culture and Equality, who forwarded us to the Ministry of Children and Families, who then thought it was The Ministry of Trade and Fisheries, which was to answer. – Too bad Liver paste is one of the products Henriette Harbitz struggles the most with seeing the date on. – It is a great shame to hear that our date marking is difficult to read, says Mills’ communications manager, Kjersti Johannessen. – Why put the date there?, wonders Harbitz. – Several reasons for that, replies Mills. Photo: Oda Flaten Lødemel – Why have they placed it on the part of the plastic lid that is curved, and not on the yellow background, for example? – Several possibilities apply when we choose location and size. Among other things, it must be easy for the shop assistant to see the date stamp, therefore it must be placed so that it is possible to see it on the shop shelf, Johannessen replies. Mills will contact the Blind Association directly to get their input. – We take the feedback with us and look at how we can improve the labeling, she says. Some of the other food producers respond to this: NTB Lerøy Sjømat – We have noted this feedback and will take it into our future work with product labelling, says Anne Hilde Midttveit, head of quality and social responsibility at Lerøy Seafood Group ASA. NTB Nortura – It is sad to hear that so much food is being thrown away. Nortura follows the current rules for marking date stamps, but as the investigation by the blind association shows, this is still not good enough for everyone. It is great that the focus is on this so that we get a clearer guide on how the print should look in terms of size, colour, contrast and so on, replies Thomas Sissener Bonafede in Nortura. Orkla ASA Orkla Foods – Over several years, we have had a good dialogue with the Association of the Blind, which we have greatly benefited from in the development of our packaging. After feedback from them, we have focused on making text easier to read by, among other things, increasing font size and contrast, and not least ensuring good readability of the date marking, says communications manager Kristoffer Barbøl Vikebak. NTB scanpix Coop – This is not a widespread problem as far as we know, so this is very useful feedback for us. Date marking is printed on the products when they pass through the packaging line in large quantities at the manufacturers, so this depends on the hardware of each individual. Based on the feedback, we will follow up on this, replies communications director Harald Kristiansen at Coop. Published 12.06.2024, at 15.16
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Visually impaired and blind people struggle to read date markings on food products – news Vestland
