Regulation (EU) 2021/2117

What the law says:

The rules in place from 8 December 2023 require adjustments to the way in which wines intended for export to the EU are labelled. For each reference produced from 8 December 2023, manufacturers must disclose :

• • a nutritional declaration,
  • energy value
  • a list of ingredients.

The communication of this data is in addition to the labelling requirements already in force in the EU (which must be maintained).

Producers have the option of displaying nutritional declarations and ingredients directly on the label or via a dematerialised label accessible by scanning a QR Code present on a product label.

The information must be presented in a language that can be clearly understood by consumers in the Member States where the wine is offered for sale and must be available in 24 languages.

Initially, the new rules were to apply to wine 'made and labelled' from 8 December 2023. However, the law was amended on 31 July 2023, clearly specifying that the new EU requirements will only apply to wine 'made' on or after 8 December 2023.

The new EU obligations therefore apply to wines produced from the 2024 harvest onwards, as well as wines produced during the 2023 and earlier harvests, labelled in accordance with the EU labelling rules then in place (i.e. those in force prior to 8 December 2023) and may continue to be marketed in the EU until stocks are exhausted.

The new EU standards for nutritional labelling and indication of ingredients apply in all 27 Member States. However, as a result of Brexit, they will not apply to wines sold in the UK (unless they are then 're-exported' from the UK to the EU).

 

What information will consumers be able to consult?

Consumers need to be able to consult nutritional information and information about the ingredients in your wine. There are two options for providing this information: 

• Put all the information on the physical label and therefore directly on the bottle
• A dematerialised label accessible via a QR Code physically present on the bottle and easily scanned by consumers

Language

All this compulsory information (nutritional values and ingredients) must be provided in the language of the country where the product is sold. If the bottle is exported throughout the European Union, then it must be translated into all languages. 

It's with this detail in mind that we understand the need for the dematerialised label solution.

Legibility, font size and general accessibility

The usual legibility criteria remain in force. The font size for any addition to your label must match that of the other mandatory information (i.e. a minimum height of 1.2 mm based on the height of a lower-case "x"). It must also be indelible and difficult to detach. We note that the EU will allow the new information to be provided by means of an additional sticker, provided that the label is not easily removable and that the other requirements are met.

 

Dematerialised labelling

Wine producers have 2 options:

• Create their own system for generating dematerialised labels to comply with the law
• Subscribe to an external service provider's solution to rapidly generate compliant dematerialised labels

Opting for the first option means paying particular attention to compliance with the various e-labelling requirements. There are a number of areas where there are potential pitfalls for companies (for example, the inclusion of marketing information or the omission of data in the appropriate languages). For this reason, we anticipate that many companies will work with an e-labelling supplier; however, this is ultimately a decision for each company.

What is an E-label or dematerialised label?

This is simply a web page listing all the information about the bottle that is usually found on a conventional label. All this information about ingredients and nutritional information must be understandable to consumers in the countries where the products are sold.

This raises the following problems: 

1. all this detailed information would take up a huge amount of space on the bottle, which would then look very unattractive
2. the need for translation into the language of the consumer's country would oblige the producer to completely change the labelling for each country where its products are sold. This would entail additional printing and handling costs.

It is for all these reasons that the dematerialised label (or elabel) is automatically translated. 

All that's left is a simple QR code to stick on the bottles, regardless of the country of export, and the producer is in full compliance with European regulations.

How do you add a QR Code to your label/bottle?

The regulations do not specify a size, but it must be sufficiently visible/readable on the bottle. 

The QR code must be clearly distinguishable from the surrounding text/graphics. We suggest that the code measures at least 12 mm x 12 mm. We also recommend that you print the QR code with the highest possible quality.

Don't hesitate to ask your printer for information or advice.

Nutritional declarations

For each SKU produced from 8 December 2023 and sold in the EU, producers must disclose a nutrition declaration that complies with EU legislation. The mandatory nutrition declaration must include:

• Energy value
• The quantities of fats, saturated carbohydrates, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins and salt.
• the ingredients, preservatives and possible allergens present in the wine

The nutritional declaration must express the quantities of nutrients per 100 ml.

The nutrition declaration must be presented in a clear format and, where appropriate, in the order set out in the table below. Where space permits, the information should be presented in a tabular format with numbers aligned. However, where space does not permit, the nutrition declaration may appear in a linear format.

In cases where the quantity of one or more nutrients in a product is negligible, information on these nutrients may be replaced by a statement such as "Contains negligible amounts of..." and must be indicated in close proximity to the nutrition declaration where present. Energy values must be expressed in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal) per 100 ml and are calculated using the following conversion factors:

We understand that energy values must be rounded to the nearest kL/kcal. In order to provide linguistically neutral information, you can do this by using the symbol "E", followed by the information in kJ and kcal per 100 ml.

There are various guidelines on this subject: for typical wines, the calculation of energy values can be based on alcohol and sugar measurements, plus an additional generic value to take account of glycerol/organic acids.

With regard to energy and nutrients, the values declared must, depending on the individual case, be average values based on :

• analysis of the food by the manufacturer
• a calculation based on the known or actual average values of the ingredients used, or
• a calculation based on generally established and accepted data. Informal guidance published by the European Commission indicates that :
• energy values must be rounded to the nearest kJ/kcal, and
• In general, the following tolerances and roundings are acceptable in the context of nutrient declaration in accordance with EU legislation.

Calculate nutritional levels

The EU has already issued informal guidance indicating that the tolerance and rounding shown in the table below will be acceptable. You may notice that for many nutrients a tolerance of 20 % is applied, but there are some variations. Despite this tolerance, the EU guidelines on nutrition labelling of food indicate that companies should work in good faith to ensure that values are as accurate as possible. In particular, the values used should be averages over several batches and should not be extreme/aberrant values.

So, for a 'typical' table wine made from grapes :

• Fat can be specified as "0 g" or "negligible".
• Saturates can be specified as "0 g" or "negligible".
• Proteins can be specified as "0 g" or "negligible".
• Salt can be calculated by multiplying the amount of sodium by 2.5 and can be specified as '0 g' or '0.01 g' as appropriate. *

* You can also give information per portion/serving, but this must be accompanied by the quantity of the portion/serving and the number of portions/servings in the packaging. However, if you do so, remember the language requirements

(You can also give information per portion/serving, but this must be accompanied by the quantity of the portion/serving and the number of portions/servings in the packaging. However, if you do so, don't forget the language requirements. )

We are waiting for the EU to tell us that if there are only traces of fat, protein and salt in wines, an analysis is not necessary. However, it is also trivial to include these zero or low values. The European industry is also aiming to publish some generally established and accepted data that winemakers could use, and to formally request the EU to set a standard value for polyols to allow simpler determination of average carbohydrates.

No marketing information and no collection/tracking of user data

When using an electronic label, the regulations require that the list of ingredients not be displayed "together with other information intended for sales or marketing purposes". No user data may be collected or tracked. With regard to the location of the link, we understand that the EU considers that a link to your website will not be appropriate as it will contain commercially relevant information for marketing and/or sales purposes. They also note that websites normally track user information.

We therefore advise against using your own website; however, if you choose to do so, you must ensure that you comply with these restrictions. The e-label must also not include a link to your winery's website or to an e-commerce website.

We are aware that some businesses are already using QR codes to provide marketing information. This is not explicitly prohibited by the new requirements, but there may be some risk in this approach if you start providing two QR codes. If you wish to include two codes despite this risk, we strongly recommend that you take steps to ensure that the additional code will not mislead or confuse consumers. For example, you should keep the QR codes physically separate on the label (so that people don't accidentally scan the marketing code when looking for nutritional information).

QRcodeWINE is the cheapest solution on the market for dematerialised labels designed exclusively for wine producers!