An amendment to regulations on misleading or deceptive food nutrition labels and claims will be tabled at the Legislative Council April 9, the Food & Health Bureau says.

The move will help consumers make healthier food choices and encourage manufacturers to apply sound nutrition principles in food formulation to benefit public health.

The Food & Drugs (Composition & Labelling) (Amendment: Requirements for Nutrition Labelling & Nutrition Claim) Regulation 2008 will be gazetted tomorrow.

A mandatory nutrition-labelling scheme for prepackaged food will be introduced to promote consumer access to information. It requires all prepackaged food to label energy content plus seven core nutrients - protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and sugars - and any nutrient for which a claim is made.

The one-plus-seven scheme complies with the World Health Organisation's recommendation to the Codex Committee on Food Labelling meeting last April.

To minimise the impact on food choices and to facilitate trade compliance, the bureau has allowed ample flexibility in the labelling format of nutrients, exempted individual products with practical difficulty and those with small sales volume in meeting the requirements.

A special Task Force on Nutrition Labelling Education with representatives from various professional organisations, like the Hong Kong Medical Association, has been formed to co-ordinate public education and promotion activities on nutrition labelling.

There will also be workshops to further help the food trade adapt to the changes. The amendment is expected to be implemented fully on July 1, 2010 after a two-year grace period.