Application
This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge required to label foods according to legislative requirements.
The unit applies to individuals who have responsibility for maintaining the product safety, quality and legislative requirements for labelling.
No occupational licensing or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication. However, legislative and regulatory requirements for food processing exist, so local requirements must be checked. All work must comply with Australian food safety standards and relevant codes of practice.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements | Performance Criteria |
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. |
1. Identify specific criteria required for a food label | 1.1 Identify components of food labels 1.2 Identify the relationship between food label and consumer information 1.3 Confirm that the ingredients in a food product are accurately described 1.4 Confirm that date marking is completed and linked to information on batch number and date of processing 1.5 Confirm that directions for use and storage information are provided 1.6 Confirm that country of origin information is completed to comply with requirements for food source and place of processing 1.7 Identify additional general information requirements 1.8 Source commodity-specific labelling requirements |
2. Document information from the food processing operation required on the product label | 2.1 Identify exemptions for nutrition information panel 2.2 Provide information on energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium content, and any other nutritional information required by legislation 2.3 Provide the number of servings, the average quantity of food in a serving and the unit quantity of the food 2.4 Document the declaration of weights and measures 2.5 Confirm that legislative requirements for specifying allergens and irradiated foods, percentage labelling and mandatory warning and advisory statements and declarations (including genetically modified ingredients) are included on the label |
3. Produce a label for a specified food product | 3.1 Collate label data and format 3.2 Use software packages to produce a nutritional panel for a food label 3.3 Assess food labels to determine compliance, and modify if necessary 3.4 Monitor the operation of labelling equipment |
Foundation Skills
This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential for performance in this unit of competency but are not explicit in the performance criteria.
Skill | Description |
Reading | Interpret legislative requirements and standards for food labelling Interpret food safety guidelines, codes of practice, standards and regulations relevant to a food processing enterprise Identify the legal responsibilities of a food processing company relating to product content, packaging, nutritional panels and use-by dates |
Numeracy | Source, collect and organise a range of data for use on product labels Apply units of measurement and percentage compositions of food make-up for nutrition information panel |
Sectors
Food science and technology (FST)