What is a QUID Declaration?

An Example of QUID

In its simplest form, think of a list of ingredients for a product – let’s say a cheese sandwich. The ingredients are:

• Bread
• Margarine
• Cheese

Now let’s consider how much there is of each ingredient in the product:

• Bread – 80g
• Margarine – 15g
• Cheese – 35g

To calculate the percentages of each of the constituent parts, we will need to know the total weight of the product. The total weight of the sandwich is 80g + 15g + 35g = 130g

From this we can calculate the percentages of each of the products:
(Divide “Weight of Ingredient” by the “Total Weight of finished Product” and multiply by 100)

So our QUID declaration should incorporate these elements:

• Bread (62%)
• Margarine (12%)
• Cheese (26%)

Or: Bread (62%), Margarine (12%), Cheese (26%)

What is included in a QUID Declaration?

Strictly speaking, the QUID Declaration above is a full dedclaration, and that is not strictly necessary (albeit it is not against the law to make a full declaration).

The rules about what a QUID Declaration should include are to do with the description of a product or what is meant by the name of a product. In our example, the “cheese” of the “Cheese Sandwich” is named. As such, it is only the Cheese that needs to be quantified. So your Ingredient Declaration would be:
Bread, Margarine, Cheese (26%)

i.e. we do not need to declare the percentages of the other ingredients.

Of course a proper ingredient declaration would include:

• an indication of allergens
• a description explaining how allergens are indicated
• and the full composite ingredients you would expect in the ingredients used

So more accurately:

Ingredients (Allergens indicated in UPPERCASE & BOLD): Bread [WHEAT Flour (WHEAT Flour (GLUTEN), Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Yeast, Salt, Rapeseed Oil, Spirit Vinegar, Preservative (Calcium Propionate), SOYA Flour, Emulsifiers (Mono- and Di-Acetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids), Palm Oil, Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid)] Margarine [Water, Rapeseed Oil, Palm Oil, Reconstituted BUTTERMILK (MILK) (3.5%), Salt (1%), Emulsifiers (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Sunflower Lecithins), Stabiliser (Sodium Alginate), Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Acidity Regulator (Lactic Acid), Vitamin E, Colour (Beta Carotene), Flavouring.], CHEDDAR CHEESE (26%) [(MILK), Rennet, Salt]

However, as the work involved in doing these calculations and then removing what is not necessary is monotonous. It is surely easier to make a full declaration than it is to make a partial declaration in the strictest keeping with the minimum standards of the law. I.e. It is easier to have a system that calculates everything and declares it rather than one that interprets the minimum requirements of the regulations and omits quantitative indications.

The logic is that rather than have a system that determines everything quantitatively and then manually removing what does not need including, just have a system that covers everything and requires no manual intervention and relax in the knowledge that you cannot get it wrong.

QUID with Cooked Foods and Non-Cooked Foods

The QUID Declaration should be calculated before cooking any foods – so as per the original ingredients. This is important where cooking will result in the loss of water. For example, if you were to make a bolognaise sauce, you would have a range of ingredients with a total weight. After cooking the weight of the cooked product would be less than the ingredients.

The correct QUID calculation would be the total original weight of the ingredient divided by the finished cooked weight of the product.

QUID Declaration Software Solutions

Positive ID Labels offer a range of labelling systems, labels and software solutions. Amongst these is our Nutridata Nutrition Calculation System. Nutirdata allows users to enter all of their pantry items into a database (along with nutrition data). This can then be used to create recipes for your products. Asa a default setting, the Nutridata software will list all of the ingredients in a product in quantitative order (with the largest constituent listed first and the smallest listed last).

To find out more information on QUID Declarations and how Positive ID Labels can help you, call us on 01332 864895