T-08

Nutritional labelling

The full determination set behind a nutrition facts panel, so every declared value on the pack can be evidenced.

What it is: Full nutrition panel, vitamins, minerals, cholesterol
Who it is for: Anyone printing a label, changing a recipe or exporting
Turnaround: 5–7 days

WHAT THIS IS

What this is, and why it matters

Nutritional labelling analysis measures the values that appear in the nutrition facts panel: energy, protein, total fat, saturated and trans fat, carbohydrate, total sugars, dietary fibre, sodium and salt equivalent, and — where the product is fortified or carries a claim — the specific vitamins, minerals and cholesterol behind it. Some values are measured directly and some are calculated from measured components; a competent report states which is which rather than presenting all of them as though they were measured.

A declared value is a public statement about the product, and it is checkable by anyone who buys a pack and sends it to a laboratory. Gulf requirements for nutritional labelling sit in GSO 2750, and the values printed on the pack have to be supported. The usual failure here is not dishonesty — it is a panel calculated from a recipe or copied from a similar product, which drifts the moment an ingredient or a supplier changes, and is then wrong on every pack printed since.

Figure · Specimen label

A sample labelled only with a product name cannot be traced to anything. Every field here appears on the submission form too, and the two must match.

What this lane covers

Full nutrition panel, vitamins, minerals, cholesterol
Label declarations you can evidence on request

TRIGGERS

When you need it

You are printing a new label

A new product, an artwork redesign or a new market all mean a panel going to print, and it needs values that were measured on the product actually being sold.

A recipe or a supplier changed

Any change that moves composition moves the panel with it. Where the change is material, the declared values need re-establishing before the next print run rather than after it.

You are exporting

Destination markets set their own panel format, units, rounding rules and mandatory nutrients. The underlying determinations are the same; what has to be declared and how it is presented is not.

CATALOGUE

Nutrition labelling — parameters

Energy value
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
Calculated from proximates
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Protein
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
AOAC 954.01
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Total fat
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
AOAC 954.02
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Total carbohydrate
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
By difference
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Total sugars
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
AOAC 923.09
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Dietary fibre
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
AOAC 962.09
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Moisture
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
ISO 662:2016 / AOAC 925.10
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Ash
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
AOAC 942.05
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Salt and sodium chloride
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
USDA 1963 / AOAC
Run by
Nexus bench
Turnaround
5–7 days
Saturated fat
Matrix
Packaged food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Cholesterol
Matrix
Animal-derived food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Vitamin A
Matrix
Fortified food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Vitamin D
Matrix
Fortified food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Calcium
Matrix
Food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Iron
Matrix
Food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Magnesium
Matrix
Food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Potassium
Matrix
Food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days
Sodium
Matrix
Food
Reference method
Per partner laboratory method
Run by
Partner laboratory
Turnaround
Up to 14 days

Parameter	Matrix	Reference method	Run by	Turnaround
Energy value	Packaged food	Calculated from proximates	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Protein	Packaged food	AOAC 954.01	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Total fat	Packaged food	AOAC 954.02	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Total carbohydrate	Packaged food	By difference	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Total sugars	Packaged food	AOAC 923.09	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Dietary fibre	Packaged food	AOAC 962.09	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Moisture	Packaged food	ISO 662:2016 / AOAC 925.10	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Ash	Packaged food	AOAC 942.05	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Salt and sodium chloride	Packaged food	USDA 1963 / AOAC	Nexus bench	5–7 days
Saturated fat	Packaged food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Cholesterol	Animal-derived food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Vitamin A	Fortified food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Vitamin D	Fortified food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Calcium	Food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Iron	Food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Magnesium	Food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Potassium	Food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days
Sodium	Food	Per partner laboratory method	Partner laboratory	Up to 14 days

Published from the laboratory’s own method list. Reference methods shown are the primary reference for each determination; the full reference set, sample requirement and confirmed turnaround are issued in writing before any sample is accepted.

Lines marked “partner laboratory” are managed and reported by Nexus Labs and run on a partner laboratory’s bench. Which laboratory, and its accreditation position, is named on request before the work is commissioned.

Figure · Published turnaround spread

Published turnaround spread, grouped from the catalogue above — 9 of 18 lines carry a working-day figure. The other 9 lines run to a study plan, an interval or the visit itself, and are not drawn.

PROCESS

How it works

Send the brief before the sample
The product, the market the label is for, and whether the pack carries any nutrition or health claim. Claims decide the work: a claim about a specific nutrient has to be supported by measuring that nutrient, not by a standard panel.
Sample requirements confirmed in writing
The sample must be the product as sold, in its own packaging, and representative of normal production. A panel measured on a hand-made development sample does not describe what leaves the line, which is the version anyone checking will buy.
On the bench, to a published method
Every determination runs to the ISO, AOAC or APHA method named in the catalogue above, and that reference travels onto the report line rather than sitting in a footnote. Turnaround runs from acceptance at the laboratory, not from the day the sample left you.
Reported so the result can be acted on
Values are reported in the units and to the rounding convention of the destination market, so what comes back can go to the artwork rather than needing conversion by whoever receives it.

What you get back

A full determination set with the method behind each value, marked to show which values were measured and which were calculated, presented in the format the destination market requires — ready to hand to a designer without translation.

Service facts

Parameter	Value	Note
Accreditation position	Not on the accredited scope. Proximates run in house to published AOAC methods; vitamins, minerals, cholesterol and fatty-acid breakdown are placed with a partner laboratory. Neither is covered by the accredited testing certificate.	Stated per discipline, never implied by a badge.
Sample requirements	Confirmed to you in writing before dispatch. Container, quantity, temperature and hold time change with the parameter and the matrix, so they are issued per request rather than published as one list.	Per-parameter detail publishes with the confirmed method list.

Q+A

Common questions

Nutrition labelling

Can you just print the panel from my recipe?

No. A calculated panel inherits every error in the recipe and the suppliers’ data — substitutions, process losses and moisture changes all move the numbers. The laboratory measures the product as it is actually made; what you declare against GSO 2750:2024 then stands on your own data.

Is this the same as GSO 9 labelling?

No — GSO 9:2022 is the general food labelling standard; GSO 2750:2024 covers nutritional labelling specifically. The nutrition panel is one part of the label, and this service produces the measured values behind that part.

Do I need measured values for GHAD registration?

SFDA product registration runs on the GHAD platform, and the label you declare there is your responsibility. What testing gives you is measured values behind the declared panel, so the numbers on file trace to your product rather than to an estimate. The laboratory confirms the scope of the panel in writing.

My product varies batch to batch — which batch do you test?

Variation is real, and how many batches to test and average is a study-design question, not a formality. The laboratory confirms the approach in writing before sampling, so the declared values represent the product, not one good day.

What if a measured value disagrees with my current label?

Then you know before an inspector does. The report gives you the measured value; the decision on when and how to correct the label is yours, made with the evidence in hand rather than after a market complaint.

Send the sample question or the instrument list. It is read by a bench professional, not routed through a ticket queue. Call +966 59 637 8052 or write to lab-mgr@qsinexus.com.

Submit a sample Contact

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