Apologies if this has been mentioned, i did a google search for an answer but found nothing on the whole web, although i didnt know exactly how to word it!

In tescos today i bought some imitation lucky charms from the american section (half the price of lucky charms!) and found that the top of the box where it has a section that tells you how many calories per bowl, how much sugar per bowl etc had a blank sticker covering it up!

Every single item on that american section had the same. They had blank stickers on everything covering up the calorie content. On the side there was a printed sticker covering the ingredients list that gave a basic reading for calories per 100g, but not the in depth detail that was underneath the sticker.

I thought it was illegal for a shop to sell an item in which they have deliberately tried to obscure the amount of fat,sugar,salt etc on the packaging?

I know that stuff is full of crap and sugar so surely they should be showing just how much it is rather than covering it up? They dont do that for any of the stuff produced in england so why do it for the imported stuff?

I don't know of any law that says they can't cover up information, just that they have to show specific information.

Marshmallow mateys?

Didn't know what they were so googled 27g is 374 calories !! and 417 calories for the bar !

For a bowl/bar of cereal? Crazy!

Maybe it's hidden because they're not allowed to show nutritional info in ounces only?

Maybe the information listed or the way it's listed doesn't adhere to the standards here so they've covered it up. It should still be listed though, even if that meant putting an additional sticker with the info on it. I think the Reese's peanut butter cups they sell in B&M's are like that too. I could be wrong but over there they refer to calories the way they refer to kcal here, so maybe they didn't want the hassle of misunderstanding/misrepresentation.

I know in the UK the amount of carbohydrate given on the label is the effective carbohydrate content of the food per 100g- meaning it doesn't include the fibre, unlike in the US, where the fibre is included in the total carbohydrate count. So on that basis I could see why they'd cover up the U.S. info, but it seems strange they would only replace it with the calories per 100g.

But yeah, apparently unless they're making specific health claims, this is all they really have to show. https://www.gov.uk/food-labelling-an...-you-must-show

Thats the one!

I was just a bit unsure as to why they would cover up the info especially from the front of the box. They have loads of cereals and presumably in america they put the info onthe front in the corner so you can compare cereals at a glance, but this way you had to read the side of every one and even then it was unclear.

Im pretty sure uk cereal is the same where on the front it has in the corner all you need to know for a serving size.

I suppose in this day and age where people want to know everything i was just a bit suprised that someone had gone to a lot of effort to effectively hide all the bad information! I thought if anything it would be that shops had to make it clear just how unhealthy certain foods are!

Maybe they refer to data "per serving" and in the US a serving is about half a box.

Could also be in relation to the % of daily amounts?

American standards may vary so say 10% of american advised amount may not be 10% of UK recommended allowances so covering it all makes it easier than risking confusing people.

Everything that is being imported, especially food, has to have a declaration sticker with Ingredients, nutritional information, importer and best before printed on it. If you thought something was wrong with it, you should have complained to Tesco, and asked them as for why they are trying to obscure the important info on the packaging.