Reference
What our labels mean
On a product card a label is a short claim. This page says exactly what each one means and what we require before showing it.
The rule, in one sentence
A label appears only where evidence exists and a person has approved it. Until a product has been checked it carries none: no label says nothing about the product, it says we have not looked yet.
The evidence we accept
A dietary claim is approved only when one of these stands behind it.
- A certification mark carried by the product.
- A statement printed on the packaging.
- A supplier specification sheet.
- A laboratory analysis report.
With none of these behind it, the claim stays a draft and is shown nowhere.
Diets and free from claims
These labels describe what the product does or does not contain, according to its maker.
- Vegan
- No ingredient of animal origin.
- Vegetarian
- No meat and no fish.
- Gluten free
- Gluten free.
- Lactose free
- Lactose free.
- Dairy free
- No dairy.
- No added sugar
- No sugar added. Sugars naturally present in the ingredients are still there.
- Palm oil free
- No palm oil.
- Alcohol free
- Alcohol free.
- Raw
- Raw: the product has not been heated above the threshold its maker states.
- Fair trade
- The product carries a fair trade certification.
This information comes from the makers. If you have an allergy or an intolerance, always read the label on the product you receive.
Organic certification
Two statuses can appear on a product card. They are two different things and the shop does not merge them.
- Certified organic
- A control body has issued an organic certificate for this product, and that certificate covers today.
- Organic in conversion
- The farm is going through conversion to organic production. It is a status of its own, with its own certificate, and it is shown as that rather than presented as certified organic.
What the certificate has to carry
The standard applied, the control body code, the certificate number, the audited holder and the validity period. If any of the five is missing, or the period has passed, the label goes and the product page says nothing further about it.
A product nobody has classified yet shows nothing. That is not a negative claim: it means the work has not been done.