No nutrition labelling is required for grape juice made from your own harvest, which is only sold to consumers or local retailers. However, labelling is required where grapes are bought in, there are sales to wholesalers, or retailers outside a diameter of around 100 km.
You will find further details regarding this labelling requirement on the information sheet “Information regarding manufacture and labelling of grape juice” from the Rhineland Palatinate State Examination Office - Institute for Food Chemistry Coblenz (dated: January 2017).
General observation
In general, the values indicated in the nutrition declaration are averages. Depending on the case, they can be based on:
- the manufacturer’s food analysis,
- a calculation based on the known or actual average values for the ingredients used or
- a calculation based on generally proven, accepted data
According to EU guidelines for nutrition labelling, the following amounts are regarded as negligible:
- Fat: < 0.5 g/100 ml
- of which saturated fatty acids: < 0.1 g/100 ml
- Protein: < 0.5 g/100 ml
- Salt: < 0.0125 g/100 ml
According to the Institute for Food Chemistry in Koblenz (status: January 2017), the volumes of fat, protein and salt may be indicated as negligible amounts.
Recording nutrient information
An analysis of the sugar content is required to calculate the level of carbohydrates in the grape juice. The carbohydrate level is reported as a rounded figure without a decimal place, e.g. carbohydrate 16 g/100 ml, of which sugar 16 g/100 ml. With less than 10 g/100 ml, the carbohydrate level is reported as a rounded figure without a decimal place, e.g. carbohydrate 8.8 g/100 ml, of which sugar 8.8 g/100 ml.
An analysis of the sugar content and total acid is required to calculate the energy value in grape juice. The following conversion factors are used here:
- 1 kcal corresponds to around 4.2 kJ
- 1 g of sugar (= carbohydrate) corresponds to 4 kcal or 17 kJ
- 1 g of total acid corresponds to 3 kcal or 13 kJ
- 1 g of protein corresponds to 4 kcal or 17 kJ
- 1 g of fat corresponds to 9 kcal or 37 kJ
- 1 g of fibre corresponds to 2 kcal or 8 kJ
- 1 g of polyvalent alcohol corresponds to 2.4 kcal or 10 kJ
Protein, fat, fibre and polyvalent alcohol are generally negligible in grape juice. The calorific value is not rounded and shown without a decimal point.