What Is The Principal Display Panel?

Food Labels play an important third-party role in the food marketing system through their impact on product design, advertising, consumer confidence on food quality, and consumer education on diet and health. Every packaged food must be labelled. The food packages and containers are labelled in two ways which are the Principal Display Panel (PDP) and Information Panel. 

What is the principal display panel?

The Principal Display Panel (PDP) is the facet of Front of Packaging also addressed as Front Label Panel. PDP is that part of the package which is most likely to be seen by the consumer at first glance at the product. It is usually the side that is displayed at the time of sale to the consumers. 

What does Principal Display Panel include?

The components mentioned on the Principal Display Panel are the statement of identity, or name of the food, and the net quantity statement, or amount of product, on the PDP and on the alternate PDP.

1. Statement of Identity/name of food:

This is the common name of a product for e.g. potato chips or vanilla ice cream. The specified requirements allow the use of some fancy names as long as they are not misleading and obvious enough for the consumer to recognize what the product is containing. The print should be a bold type and the size should be equivalent to the prominent printed matter on the label.

2. The Brand name:

It is generally written above the statement of identity and the size is comparatively less than the name of the food. 

3. Net quantity statement, or amount of product:

The net quantity statement is the statement on the label which provides the amount of food in the container or package. It must be mentioned in weight, measures or numerical count. Generally, if the food is solid, semisolid or viscous, it should be expressed in terms of weight e.g. mg, g, or kg. If the food is a liquid it should be expressed in fluid measure e.g. ml or L. The net quantity statement is the amount of food that a package or a container contains. It is mentioned in measure, weight or the numeric count. 

4. Nutrition and Health claims/ Nutrition Facts:

Nutrition claims represent the nutritional value of the food. E.g. “High in protein”, “Rich in MUFA/PUFA'', etc. Health claims inform about the relationship between a component of food and a disease or health-related condition. E.g. A brand name including terms like immune-booster, healthy OR statements like "Calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis" is a kind of health claim one might use with specific evidence. 

Area of Principal Display Panel:

While designing the Principal Display Panel it is very important to calculate the area and also determine the minimum type size accordingly.  Rectangular Package: The PDP must encompass the entire customer-facing side of the package Cylindrical Package/Other Packaging shapes: The PDP must encompass 40% of the total side area of the package (in case of cylindrical package circumference multiplied by height) On the other hand, speaking about the Information panel, it is the surface designed and printed to the immediate right of the Principal Display Panel. It should include printed matter like nutrition facts, ingredient lists, manufacturing address, country of origin and allergen information. 

Also Read - What Are The Mandatory Elements Of A Food Label?

Get Regulatory Compliant Food Labels in under 5 Minutes!

References: 

1. LabelCalc, Requirements and Info Labels for Food Labels, January 2, 2018.

2. Rhode Island Department of Health, Food Labelling for Packaged food, 

3. A Food Labelling Guide (FDA), General Food Labelling Requirements