On December 5, 2024, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) published the report on the Accuracy of Nutrition Declaration Labels of Prepacked Sugar-Sweetened Carbonated Beverages and Processed Cheeses 2023, which aims to examine the sugar content claims on the labels of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages, and the salt content claims on the labels of processed cheese products on the Irish market during the year 2023.

The Report states that 1.1% of sugary sweetened carbonated beverages exceeded the EU sugar nutrient declaration allowance, which indicates that nutrition labels provide reliable information on sugar content.9.5% of processed cheeses exceeded the EU salt nutrient declaration allowance, and more than half of the processed cheeses that failed had a small deviation from the allowed value. Overall, the compliance of Irish food salt content claims with the EU nutrition label allowance is good.

The FSAI also found that 98.5% of breakfasts complied with the EU Salt Nutrition Labeling Allowance. 99.3% of soups, sauces, breads and other foods complied with the EU Salt Nutrition Labeling Allowance. The sugar content declaration for sugary sweetened carbonated beverage labels and the salt content declaration for processed cheese labels more accurately reflect changes in food nutritional composition and food formulation.

The Report also sets targets for reducing the salt and sugar content of foods, i.e. 10% for salt and 20% for sugar. The table below shows the declared values of salt content (g/100g) of processed cheese: