Before you start: collect the evidence
A label review is only as good as the evidence in front of you:
- The current recipe or BOM for the product.
- The supplier specifications behind every label-critical ingredient.
- The artwork version that is actually going to print.
- The list of destination markets and their languages.
- Notes and open items from the previous review.
The checklist
- Name of the food: does it match the specification and the destination market’s rules?
- Ingredient list: complete, in descending order, and consistent with the current recipe?
- Allergens: emphasised correctly and consistently — including after redesigns?
- QUID: is the percentage declared where the name or artwork emphasises an ingredient?
- Net quantity, durability date and storage conditions: consistent with the specification?
- Operator name and address: current and correct for the market?
- Origin: stated where required for the product and market?
- Nutrition declaration: consistent with the calculation or analysis behind it?
- Language and market: is every mandatory particular present in the required language?
- Claims and pictures: supported by the evidence — no more, no less?
Common pitfalls
- An old artwork version goes to print while the reviewed one waits in a folder.
- A supplier changes a specification after the label was last reviewed.
- A label is copied to a new market without a market-specific review.
- Allergen emphasis is lost in a redesign nobody flagged to QA.
- QUID is forgotten when marketing emphasises an ingredient late in the process.
- The review history lives with one person — and leaves with them.
Record the decision
A checklist run that is not recorded will be repeated from scratch. Note what was reviewed, which evidence was used, what is missing and what QA decided. That decision trail is what turns label review from a recurring scramble into audit preparation.
How FoodQA helps
FoodQA is a review workspace for labels, supplier specifications and QA decisions — built for audit-heavy QA teams. It shows product records and label versions by destination market, tracks supplier specifications and review status, collects documented review decisions, and prepares evidence reports for audit preparation.
You provide the product evidence. FoodQA prepares the review package. QA makes the decision.
FoodQA does not grant certification and does not claim to satisfy every IFS, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 or SQF requirement. It prepares the evidence and the decision trail; your QA team and the auditor review them.