1 
 GSO  
 
STAN DARDISATION ORGANIS ATION FOR THE  
 
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL  
 
 
 
 
 
 
DRAFT  
 
OF GULF STANDARD SPECIFICATION  
 
NO.  GSO 05//Codex   2/2006  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GUIDELINES ON NUTRITIONAL LABEL LING  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Compiled by  
 
The United Arab Emirates  
6/11016  
 
Internatio nal Code: 67.220.10  
 
 
This document is a draft of a Gulf Standard Spe cification intended for distribution in order for 
opinions and comments to b e expressed on it.  It is not permitted to rely upon it as a Gulf 
Standard Specification until after it has be en approved by the  
Board of Directors of the Gulf Organis ation  2 
  
 
 
 
FOREWORD  
 
 
The Standardisation Organisation of the Gulf Cooperation Council has based this 
Standard Specification on the "Nutritional Labelling of Foodstuffs" document which 
was issued as  International Foodstuffs Codex No. 1985/2 - amendment 1993/1 - and it  
has been translated into Arabic without making any  technical amendments to any of 
its clauses.  
 3 
 Gulf Standard  Specification        G. S. S.............  
 
 
GUIDANCE FOR NUTRITIONAL LABE LLING OF FOODSTUFFS  
 
1. The scope and area of application:  
 
 This Standard Specification is intended to provide an explanatory guide for the 
process of clarificatory nutritional labe lling on all types of foodstuffs. More 
detailed information must be provid ed for special foodstuffs.  
 
2. Supplementary sources:  
 
 2.1. GS No. 9  "Labe lling of packed foodstuffs"  
 2.2 GS No. 150 "Periods of validity of foodstuff products - Part One"  
 2.3. GS No. 174  " Unprocessed milk"  
 2.4 GS No. 570  "Physical and chemical meth ods of testing milk"  
 2.5 GS No. 994  "Detecting salmonella in milk and its products"  
 
3. Definitions:  
 
 3.1 Clarificatory nutritional information  
 
  This comprises a clarificatory description for the consumer explaining 
 the nutritional characteristics of  the food.  
 
 3.2 The nutritional information must be comprised of two elements:  
 
  3.2.1  An explanation of the nutrients  
  3.2.2  Additional nutritional information  
 
 3.2. [sic]   Nutritional declarations  
 
 This means a list of the contents of the nutrients in the foodstuff . 
 
 3.3. Nutritional claims  
 
 This means any suggestion maintaining or proposing or claiming that 
the food has particular nutritional characteristics, such as an energy 
value or referring to the content in the food of protein, fats, 
carbohy drates or additional vitamins and minerals.  
 
 Below is set out a list of information details which are not considered 
to be nutritional declarations:  
 
 A. Drawing attention to substances in the list of ingredients or 
 contents.  
 
 B. Referring to or drawing  attention to  nutrients whi ch form an 
essential part of the nutritional declaration information anyway.  4 
  C. Providing information abou t the quantity and type of some 
nutrients or  ingredients on the label if that is required by 
legislation in force anyway.  
 
 3.4 Nutrient  
 
 This is something which provides the body with energy or with what is 
required for growth and development or for maintaining life and where 
a lack of it will result in changes in biochemical and physiological 
traits.  
 
 3.5 Sugars  
 
  All th e mono - and disaccharide sugars in the food.  
 
 3.6 Dietary fib res 
 
 Plant and animal material which is edible but which is not digested by 
human digestive enzymes when administered in the approved manner.  
 
 3.7 Polyunsaturated fatty acids  
 
 These are fatty  acids which contain non -connected paired bonds 
separated by non -exchangeable methylene units.  
 
4. Requirements  
 
 4.1 General conditions  
 
 4.1.1  The ingredients of foodstuffs  
 
 4.1.1.2  [sic] Nutritional declarations are compulsory for foodstuffs 
which have nutritional claims as referred to in Clause 3.3.  
 
          4.1.1.3 Nutritional declarations are option al for all other types of 
foodstuffs.  
 
 4.1.2  List of nutrients  
 
 4.1.2.1  When providing nutritional information, it must be ensured that 
the following i nformation is provided:  
 
   A. The energy value  
 B. The permitted quantity of  protein and carbohydrate 
(such as carbohydrates with the exception of dietary 
fibres), and fats.  
 C. The amount of any other n utrient where its nutritional 
or heath effect is ref erred to (such as salts).  5 
  D. The amount of any other nutrient relating to good 
nutritional status - in  accordance with the approved 
requirements or national foodstuffs guidance.  
 
 4.1.2.2   If there is a declaration about a particular nutrient - in additi on 
to the list (Clause 4.1.2.1 ) it is required to give an obligatory 
explanation of any other related nutrient in order to maintain 
good nutritional status.  
 
 4.1.2.3  Where a particular health or nutritional claim is made, it is 
compulsory that a statement  be made of the quantity of any 
other related nutrient in order to maintain good nutritional 
status as required by the national legislation or the national 
foodstuffs guidelines . 
 
 4.1.2.4 If a declaration is made about the quantity of carbohydrate , or 
the type of it, or both, it is also essential to state the total 
quantity of sugars , and a statement should also be made of the 
quantities of starch and / or other carbohydrate ingredients. 
Similarly, mention must be made of the quantity of dietary 
fibres if there is a specific declaration about the fibr e which the 
foodstuff contains.  
 
 4.1.2.5  If a declaration is made about a quantity and / or type of fatty 
acids or cholesterol, it is necessary to state quantities of 
unsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturat ed fatty acids and 
polyunsaturated fatty acids.  
 
 4.1.2.6  In addition to the compulsory declarations stipulated for in 
Clauses 4.1.2.1, 4.1.2.2 and 4.1.2.3, the following vitamins and 
minerals must be included, in accordance with the following 
standard:  
 
 A.[sic] Only those vitamins and minerals need be stated for 
which a recommendation concerning them has been 
issued, or which are of nutritional importance in the  
country concerned , or which meet both these criteria.  
 
 4.1.3  In respect of the application of the requirements to nutrients, vitamins 
and minerals which are found in quantities of less than 5% of the 
nutri ent reference value (NRV) or in the official guid elines o f the 
national authority  which specify values per 100 grams or per 100 
millilitr es or am ounts per part, there is no need to refer to them on the 
label.  
 
 4.1.4  If the product is subject to the requirements of labelling un der the 
standard specifications, priority must be given to the provisions set out 
in that specification and it must be ensured that they do not conflict 
with the conditions referred to in Clauses 4.1.2.1 to 4.1.3 of these 
guidelines.  6 
 5. Calculation of nutrients  
 
 5.1 Calculation of energy  
 
 The quantity of energy which is indicated on the label should be 
calculated using the c onversion rates shown in the following table:  
 
Carbohydrate  kilocalorie / g - (17) kilojoule  
Protein  kilocalorie / g - (17) kilojoule  
Fats kilocalorie / g - (37) kilojoule  
Alcohol (ethanol)  kilocalorie / g - (29) kilojoule  
Organic acid  kilocalorie / g - (13) kilojoule  
 
 5.2 Calculation of protein  
 
 To calculate the amount of protein, the following equation must be 
used:  
 
  Protein = total nitrogen (Kjeldahl method) x 6.25  
 
6. Stating the content of nutrients  
 
 6.1 The nutrient content must be stated in  figures, in addition to the 
possibility of using other means.  
 
 6.2 The information relating to the energy content in kilojoules and 
kilocalories must be stated per 100 g or per 100 ml or per pack if the 
contents is in the form of one piece, and similarly  the information  must 
be stated for each piece of the food in accordance with the quantity as 
specified on the label or per piece in the packet on the basis of stating 
the number of pieces in the packet.  
 
 6.3 The information relating to the content of pro tein, carbohydrate and 
fats must be stated in grams per 100 g or 100 ml per pack if the 
contents is in the form of one piece, and similarly the information  must 
be stated for each piece of the food i n accordance with the quantity a s 
specified on the label or per piece in the packet on the basis of stating 
the number of pieces in the packet.  
 
 6.4 The numerical information relating to vitamins and minerals should be 
stated in metric units and  / or as a percentage of the recommended 
value of the nutrient, per  100 g or 100 ml per pack if the contents is in 
the form of one piece, and similarly the information must be stated for 
each piece  of the food i n accordance with the quantity a s specified on 
the label or per piece in the packet on the basis of stating the  number of 
pieces in the packet.  
 
 6.5 The information relating to protein may be expressed as a percentage 
of the  nutrient reference value in the guidelines.  7 
   6.5.1  The following nutrient reference values may be used for the 
purposes of labelling informa tion, providing that it conforms to 
the international standard specifications.  
 
protein  gram  50 
vitamin A  microgram  8004 
vitamin D  microgram  55 
vitamin C  milligram  60 
thiamine  milligram  1.4 
riboflavin  milligram  1.6 
niacin  milligram  185 
vitamin B 6 milligram  2 
folic acid  microgram  200 
vitamin B 12 microgram  1 
calcium  milligram  800 
magnesium  milligram  300 
iron milligram  14 
zinc milligram  15 
iodine  microgram  1505 
copper  value under study  
selenium  value under study  
 
 
 
 6.6 In the case of those co untries where the usual measure is by piece, then 
the information detailed in Clauses 6.2 - 6.4 is all that should appear on 
the piece label, whether it relates to quantity or piece, and always 
stating the number of pieces in the pack.  
 
 6.7 If any carbohy drates are present this must be stated on the label as 
"carbohydrate". If the type of carbohydrate is specified, this must 
follow the total carbohydrate content in the following  format:  
 
  Carbohydrate......... grams, of which sugars ..................... grams  
  Followed by (x) ......... grams  
  Where (x)  represents the specific name of any other carbohydrate 
 element.  
 
 6.8 If reference is made to a quantity and / or type of fatty acids or the 
quantity of cholesterol, this must be followed directly by a statement of 
the total fat content as  referred to in Clause 6.3, and the information 
should be set out in the following format:  
 
  Total fat content   .................... grams, represented by:  
  - saturated fatty acids   .................... grams  
  - trans fatty acids   .................... grams  
  - mono -unsaturated fatty acids  .................... grams  
  - poly- unsaturated fatty acids  .................... grams  
  - cholesterol    .................... grams  8 
 7. Variation and reaction  
 
 7.1 The tolerance li mits under public health regulations should be stated, 
and the assumed age, and precise analyses of any generic alterations 
and amendments and changes in the product and whether the nutrient 
has been added or whether it is present naturally.  
 
 7.2 The valu es used in stating the nutrient are the average of the values 
extracted from the data obtained from the product analysis and must 
represent the product stated on the label.  
 
 7.3 If the product has an international specification, the requirements of 
variat ions in the nutrient referred to in the specification must be 
observed, in addition to these guidelines.  
 
8. Supplementary nutritional information  
 
 8.1 Supplementary nutritional information is intended to increase the 
consumers' awareness of the nutrition al value on the foods and to assist 
in an understanding of the nutritional statements. The re are a number 
of methods for presenting that information which are appropriate for 
use on food labels.  
 
 8.2 The use of supplementary information on food labels is optional, and it 
must be in addition to the nut ritional  statement and not instead of it, 
unless the local residents are illiterate and have little knowledge of 
nutrition. In this case, foodstuff group symbols can be used or else 
colours and pictures may be  used in order to provide nutritional 
information.  
 
 8.3 The nutritional information on the labels of foodstuff products  must be 
accompanied by information al programs for consumers in order to 
increase consumer awareness and understanding of the informatio n. 
 
9. Regular amendments to the nutritional information  
 
 9.1 The statement of nutrients must be amended regularly in order to keep 
the statement of nutrients up to date with any new composition, and in 
accordance with the public health regulations concer ning foodstuffs.  
 
 9.2 It is necessary to review the optional information concerning the 
nutritional benefits of groups of foodstuffs.  
 
 9.3 The current definition s of sugars (Clause 3.5), and dietary fibres  
(Clause 3.6) and the statement of energy (Clause  4.1.2.1.A) are subject 
to review in new versions.  
 
 
 
 9 
 10. Technical expressions  
 
 [English]        [Arabic]  
 
 polyunsaturated fatty acids               polyunsaturated fatty acids
 nutrition claim              nutrition claim
 nutrition declaration               nutrition declaration
 dietary fib res                dietary fibres
 label                    label
 nutrition labelling       nutrition labelling
 nutritional          nutritional
 nutrition             nutrition  
 fats          fats 
 sugars                  sugar s 
 energy                 energy  
 nutrient              nutrient  
 unsaturated                   unsaturated  
 carbohydrates                carbohydrates  
 saturated            saturated