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Nutrition labelling is mandatory as soon as a product label contains nutritional or health claims. This also applies to the special foodstuffs defined in the Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs on Special Foodstuffs from 23rd November 2005 (updated 1st January 2012). If the product is not advertised with these so-called nutritional and health claims (e.g. “diet”, “sugar-free”, “low sodium”), nutrition labelling can appear on an optional basis. However, the nutritional information must still be “referenced on the ready-to-serve foodstuff” if the food packaging has detailed instructions for preparation. In the case of all other products, the nutritional information must be referenced “on the food at the time of sale”. A transitional period of two years has been granted for labels to be adapted. Within this transitional period, labels on food packaging must be adapted, whereby foodstuffs may be “manufactured, introduced and labelled under the previous law” until the deadline. After the expiry of the transitional period, the foodstuffs may be sold on the market under the old law until stocks are exhausted.
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