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Frequently
Asked Questions
1.
The NOVA Key label on its own doesn't help people with food allergies
so how will I find this information?
2.
What about a Vegan label?
3.
How will the lettering on the NOVA Key make sense in non-English
speaking countries?
4.
Relating to the "N" in the NOVA Key: What if some ingredients
in a product aren't made from natural "materials" but
other ingredients are?
5.
Wont the NOVA Key make shoppers even more paranoid about what
they are eating, wearing or putting on their skin?
6.
How and when will the NOVA Key be put into affect?
7.
Can manufacturers, supermarkets and restaurants start using the
NOVA Key now? (And if so, why aren't they?!)
8.
Will Pet Foods display a NOVA Key?
9.
What about medicines?
10.
How will restaurants and takeaways use the NOVA Key? Won't this
label be rather excessive if added to each item on the menu?
11.
What about cosmetics and beauty salons?
12.
How does the NOVA Key affect other labelling schemes?
13.
How will the "A" for Animal testing work? Is their a
back date from which ingredients and products tested on animals
are exempt from a "red cross"?
14.
Will small supply shops and web stores providing specialist goods
be able to label products themselves with the NOVA Key?
15.
Can use of the NOVA Key be regulated? How will consumers know
if the manufacturers are lying or not about the ingredients in
their products?
15.
There's a lot of contention about what constitutes "organic".
What's the content percentage of NOVA Keyed product before it
can be displayed without a cross on the O?
Q 1. The NOVA Key label on its own doesn't
help people with food allergies such as "gluten" "nut"
or "wheat" content, so how will I find this information?
Answer: If necessary to the
type of product, a separate "Allergy Information" box
attached to the side or below the label will contain this information
(see example below). On beauty products, this will also mean that
ingredients known to cause allergic reactions must be included in
the separate information box.
However, regardless of the NOVA Key, allergy information should,
by law, be made much clearer and more concise as part of a product's
ingredient listing. This will be taken into account with whichever
country's governments adopt this complete ethical labelling proposal.
So not to be confused between ethics and allergies, the NOVA Key
label itself is designed to give the consumer instant viewing
access to most commonly required ethically / environmentally based
information - Allergy information remains a separate but equally
important issue. "Fair Trade" information should also
be considered a separate but nonetheless important aspect regarding
product origin. Fair Trade now has it's own recognizable label
and will work harmoniously with The NOVA Key. (See
more about other labelling schemes at Q 11)
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Allergy
Information: May contain nuts. Gluten Free. Wheat
Free. Contains E213 (Calcium benzoate) which may cause allergic
reaction
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Q 2. What about a Vegan label?
Answer: The "V"
box on the NOVA Key will show the two Veg*n options. If the letter
is on a completely dark green background then the product is only
suitable for vegetarians. A light green area below the "V"
letter on the NOVA Key will show that it's suitable for vegans
(including the relevant wording).
This useful option will mean that a vegan will easily be able
to recognize the difference between a NOVA Key label that is only
suitable for vegetarians or suitable for both vegetarians and
vegans. Obviously, if a product displays the "suitable for
vegans" option then it goes without saying that it will be
suitable for vegetarians as well!
See the differences below.
Q 3. How will the lettering on the
NOVA Key make sense in non-English speaking countries - particularly
in places like China where the written language is entirely different?
Answer: Even in China, many
domestic items display Roman text (and often in English) simply
because so many products originate from other countries that have
standardized English as a common medium for labelling household
appliances etc. However, the information at the bottom of each
NOVA letter will be in the language of the country where the product
is sold. Therefore, in countries where the lettering of "N,O,V,A"
may not mean anything more than just shapes to some people, they
will soon recognize these "shapes" as symbols relative
to the description written below them in their own language.
Where products are exported and imported from one country to another,
the NOVA Key information, by law will have to be displayed in
the language of the country in which the product is being sold.
You may notice that many products already show ingredients and
manufacturing details in various languages, so the NOVA Key will
be displayed in the same manner.
Q 4. Relating to the "N"
in the NOVA Key: What if some ingredients in a product aren't made
from natural "materials" but other ingredients are?
Answer: The information provided
just below the "N" in the blue box will reflect the
difference. So even though the "N" box may show a red
cross, it will be described as either: " This product is
not made from natural ingredients" or "This product
contains some non-natural ingredients".
Like this example:
There may be occassional examples
where the "N" in Nova is crossed but the "O"
isn't. This means while the main ingredient, such as vegetables
or meat may be organic, the flavouring or juice / gravy of the
product might contain artificial additives.
Q 5. Since so many products aren't
entirely natural, wont the NOVA Key make shoppers even more paranoid
about what they are eating, wearing or putting on their skin?
Answer: Most people are already
aware that many products they buy are not entirely natural. (Even
some foods that claim to be "organic" are not!) (see
Q 12). The NOVA Key will give consumers an informed
choice, and when the key is commonly in place it will provide
a transparent source of information for both ethical and non-ethical
shoppers. In other words, consumer psychology suggests that for
some people, a labelling system like the NOVA Key may not make
the slightest difference to their buying trends, but to many others,
this clear labelling system will be a very welcome addition to
help them make wise buying choices. Take cigarettes for example,
in countries where hard-hitting warning labels are legally required
on cigarette packaging, such as "smoking kills" etc.,
this will not stop some people from buying cigarettes if they
so choose. If they want to smoke, they will. If a consumer wants
to eat sweets full of artificial colouring and animal fats they
will. What the NOVA Key does effectively is give the consumer
enough guidance to help make an informed choice.
At the same time, apathetic consumers, who may be subliminally
inspired by ethical choice when it's clearly described, may well
be enlightened and therefore benefit from the NOVA Key information.
In fact, with some products, the information that the NOVA Key
provides may even open up more buying options for some consumers.
(For example, how many peoplerealise that some bacon "flavoured"
potato chips are veggie, but many cheese flavoured potato chips
aren't!)
Apart from this, the NOVA Key may encourage manufacturers to take
a closer look at the origins of the ingredients they are putting
into their products. This includes additives or "E Numbers"
which can be derived from either animal or non-animal sources.
The E-Number (or its chemical name) may be called the same thing
on a product's additive list, but how the additive was derived
to begin with is a grey area; it might be from an animal - or
it might not be! A food additive's name alone does not tell you
the origins of its constituent components, which is very irritating
for veg*ns. For example, the food colouring additive E161g also
called Canthaxanthin (Natural Orange Colour Xanthophylls) - is
usually derived from plant material, but it can sometimes be made
from fish and invertebrates with hard shells.
(See
Food
Additives at VeggieGlobal Nutrition)
Q 6. How and when will
the NOVA Key be put into affect?
Answer: The NOVA Key is currently
a registered and copyrighted concept - an ethical labelling campaign
designed to encourage world governments to adopt the Key as a
legal requirement on all products.
In the meantime, there will be an
interim project starting here soon, inviting manufacturers to
apply for a NOVA Key licence through this campaign (see Q 7 below).
This will be a temporary measure that will help support our campaign
while giving manufacturers the opportunity to show that perhaps
they do care about the ethical choices of YOU ... the consumer.
When, and if your country's government makes The NOVA Key a legal
requirement, manufacturers will then have to deal directly with
them.
So even though this campaign might be popular with both vegetarians
and non-vegetarians who would like to see this system quickly
adopted and made law in their country, it's still, for the moment
just an option for manufacturers etc, to adopt the NOVA Key, subject
to licensing arrangement. But with your help, the key could be
made a legal requirement. The more people who actively vote or
better still, also get in touch with government food departments
or trading standards authorities in their own country telling
them about the NOVA Key, this could help the campaign enormously!
After voting
here why not write to your government's food /
trading department and include the web address of this campaign
so they can see for themselves?
We will continue to build support for this campaign and make every
effort to make the NOVA Key a world-wide standard ... so
vote now. If you would like to inform your country's
government about this campaign then send them either of the following
web addresses:
http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/novakey/index.htm
or
http://www.veggieglobal.com/novakey/index.htm
Q 7. Can manufacturers,
supermarkets and restaurants start using the NOVA Key now? (And
if so, why aren't they?!)
Answer: Yes ... very soon
now Looking-Glass will be launching a preliminary licensing program,
and expects to see the first wave of manufacturers and shops taking
the leading initiative to adopt the NOVA Key. This first step,
by companies willing to move forward towards ethical clarity on
their products, will be an interim "trust" exercise
licensed through Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal, but which may
subsequently be taken over by governments of each participating
country around the world. This is what the labelling campaign
aspect of the NOVA Key program is aiming for. When that happens,
it will mean the NOVA Key becomes a legal requirement on all relevant
products manufactured or sold within those countries. But for
the moment, any individual company can apply for a NOVA Key licence
from Looking-Glass right now.
If you are a manufacturer, supermarket
chain, restaurant or beauty salon then visit our NOVA
Key licensing site to find out how you can be one
of the first to
take
an ethical leap forward into 21st century marketing.
In this interim period money received by licensing the NOVA Key
to manufacturers will help support the non-profit administration
of the NOVA Key Campaign and all other Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal
good-cause campaigns and charitable causes.
Q 8. Will Pet Foods display
a NOVA Key?
Answer: Pet foods will need
to display a NOVA Key just like food products for humans.
Whether some animals are vegetarian or not, some animal owners
like to have a clearer idea of what kind of ingredients are being
put into their companion animal's dinner.
Q 9.What
about medicines?
Answer: Pharmaceutical manufacturers
will also be required to add the NOVA Key to their products. Many
people - vegetarians in particular - feel uninformed about animal
content in medicines and whether or not they have been tested
on animals. Patients should be given an ethical choice as to what
optional medicines can be prescribed to them, thus avoiding those
containing animal products. For example, many tablets come in
capsule form - and the capsule casing itself can often be made
of gelatine. The gelatine capsule has no active relationship with
the medicine inside the capsule. Often, there is a non-capsule
alternative of the medicine and therefore the patient should be
made aware of this. By adding the NOVA Key to all medication packaging,
doctors, pharmacists and patients alike will be clearly informed
of any ethical questions regarding manufacturing origins.
Q 10. How will restaurants and takeaways
use the NOVA Key? Won't the general use label be rather excessive
if added to each item on the menu?
Answer: Restaurants will
have the option of displaying a menu-friendly version of the NOVA
Key, which blends perfectly with any style of menu design (see
below). Thin, subtle lettering showing the essential NOVA information.
Restaurants can choose black or colour versions. Remember,
if the "V" letter doesn't have a green band below it
then the dish is not suitable for vegans ... only vegetarians.
This slim design will also apply to cosmetics and salons as an
option.
See
examples of the Restaurant NOVA Key in action on the restaurant
examples page
This unobtrusive
slim and stylish design of The NOVA Key would be added to every
item on a restaurant menu including sweet dishes and even the
wines list. (Remember that many sweet and cheese dishes are often
not suitable for veggies). So, the appropriate red crosses on
the NOVA Key means no more asking uninformed waiters if the vegetable
curry contains chicken stock, or if the gateau has gelatine in
it!
To give you a clear example
- McDonald's French fries contain beef extract. And independent
reports found on the Internet in 2002 suggest that Pizza Hut's
pizza sauce contains cheese made with animal-derived enzymes.
(Looking-Glass contacted Pizza Hut asking them to confirm this
one way or the other, but they never responded.)
Q 11. What about cosmetics and beauty
salons?
Answer: A visit to your
hair or beauty salon can also be a moral dilemma without the NOVA
Key. As part of the NOVA Key labelling campaign proposals, all
hair and beauty salons and health retreats etc., should display
a clearly visible list of products they use, labelled with the
NOVA Key, and "red-crossed" accordingly. If the A and
V is crossed on some products, you will know straight a way that
the product was tested on animals (and automatically not suitable
for veg*ns)
As with foods and clothing, cosmetic companies would be required
to use the NOVA Key on each product.
Note: Cosmetic companies,
clothing manufacturers and beauty saloons will be able to use
the same graphics as restaurant menus.
Q. 12 How does the NOVA Key affect
other labelling schemes?
Answer: Because the NOVA
Key's unique concept serves an extended purpose for all consumers,
any country's own labelling system can still be used in conjunction
with it. For example, in the UK the Vegetarian Society has their
own licensed label which is used by some manufacturers. Vegetarians
feel comfortable having an independent organization determining
veggie suitability by showing a "V" sign. However it's
important to remember that even though items "approved"
by such organizations provides authentication, there are still
thousands of other unlabelled products that may actually be suitable
for veggies, but aren't labelled so, which means you can't tell.
And even more importantly, there are also thousands of products
that may appear to be veggie ... but aren't, and not labelled
to help make this clear. This why there is confusion with random,
"one-sided" labelling, which can unfortunately cause
more confusion than it tries to solve. This confirms why it's
clearly necessary to have a "blanket key marking system"
such as the NOVA Key, which shows, for example, when a product
is or isn't suitable for veggies etc. (see "V"
example)
But overall, independent labelling by organizations and the universal
role of the NOVA Key applied on the same packaging can give extra
reassurance and both labels therefore harmonize with each other
perfectly.
If anything, it will be in the interest of other ethical labeling
organizations to work and share their endorsements with the NOVA
Key and visa versa, since the Key will provide the public with
an overall indicator of ethical choice.
Note 1: The common recycling
label and other ethical labels such as "Fair Trade",
"Soil Association" "Leaping Bunny" type certifications
will also work synchronously with the NOVA Key.
Note 2 (repeated from introduction
page): It's important to remember that the NOVA Key is
a unique validation / clarification system that consolidates a
fairer relationship between manufacturer and consumer.
If and when adopted by your country's government the NOVA Key
would be a legal requirement on all products. But even before
that, while the NOVA Key itself remains an optional system, its
concept means that thousands more products can potentially become
a clearer for the consumer, whether veggie, organic, natural,
animal tested or not. This is because the NOVA Key stops any confusion
by its clever design method.
Manufacturers using the NOVA Key aren't judging ethics, they are
simply informing you the customer about the content of their product.
They have no reason to be dishonest. If they do mark their Key
incorrectly, they will be disqualified, and the customer will
be made aware of this through the online listing (see Q12). So
it's in the interest of the manufacturer to be honest, and that
means customers will feel more trusting of manufacturers that
use the Key ... whatever their ethical choices might be. It's
a win-win situation. Obviously, it will be hoped that manufacturers
will find the ethical guidance of the NOVA Key an inspiration
to tune their products to become more environmentally and animal
friendly, and perhaps a red cross would be removed from the Key
on their products in the future.
Remember, the red crosses
applied (or not) on each letter which spells "NOVA"
is the important clarifying aspect of NOVA's impending success
as a universal key.
Q 13. How will the "A" for
Animal testing work? Is their a back date from which ingredients
and products tested on animals are exempt from a "red cross"?
Answer:
This will aim to be in line with stipulations set out by the Co-op
and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)
in the UK. Products, or product ingredients tested on animals
any later than 1985, or for toiletries and their ingredients tested
on animals later than 1997 will require a red-cross on the NOVA
Key letter "A". Products not tested on animals after
those dates will not need to cross the "A" on their
NOVA Key.
The "A" for animal testing may need to be crossed on non-food
products if it contains a chemical additive (such as glue) which
has been tested on animals since 1985.
Q 14. Will small supply shops and
web stores providing specialist goods be able to label products
themselves with the NOVA Key?
Answer: In some circumstances,
yes.
For example, a shop or website selling ethical wares and foods
etc. may like to use the NOVA Key on their website and on individual
products. Due to the risk that they may be penalized if any of
the products they are selling are mis-crossed, they will have
to take extra care that their suppliers provide them with a clear
ingredients listingas a guide to how its NOVA Key should be marked
(initialised). For example, if a web store wants to add a NOVA
Key next to each product description, then it's up to the web
store to mark the NOVA Key correctly, otherwise the entire webstore
will be disqualified for a three month period.
Q 15. Can use of the NOVA Key be regulated?
How will consumers know if the manufacturers are lying or not about
the ingredients in their products?
Answer: If the NOVA Key was
legislated in your country then the first line of defence to any
stop misuse of it would be your country's government government,
who would incur heavy penalties. It will be an offence to display
a NOVA Key which isn't correctly crossed on relevant N,O,V,A letters.
However, in the interim period
when manufacturers can apply for a NOVA Key licence prior to the
Key becoming a legal requirement, (see
Q.7) the NOVA Key website will run it's own regulating
system whereby NOVA Key licensed manufacturers displaying the
Key which isn't correctly crossed on relevant N,O,V,A letters
will be penalized.
This is how it will work:
The NOVA Key site will have a publicly accessed table. This table
is the all-important measure as to how the NOVA Key will work
for you, the consumer, as well as keeping manufacturers in check
who are using the Key. The table includes the name of the product,
the products ingredients, how the NOVA Key is marked on the product
and if that manufacturer has "violated" the use of the
NOVA Key through the product being wrongly marked. This "violation"
is more friendly than it sounds, because it allows manufacturers
to rectify their mistakes within a given period, as follows:
The NOVA Key wants to give
manufacturers, supermarkets and restaurants etc., the chance to
understand the ethics of correct labelling – an education - so
each time they make a mistake on the NOVA Key marking, they will
be blacklisted for a three month period and given an opportunity
to rectify this. For example, if a tin of peas wasn't showing
a red-crossed "O" on the Key when in fact the peas were
not organically grown, then that product will receive a three
month penalty. Based on the sell by date or batch number etc.,
the product will be marked as disqualified on the website listing.
Manufacturers will have three chances to get their NOVA Key crossings
right on each product. After that, they will be removed for 3
years before being allowed to reapply that product onto the NOVA
Key system. It’s something like a points / driving ban on a driver’s
license. If a restaurant or a deli-style shop selling home-made
produce violates the NOVA Key in any of their items, the restaurant,
restaurant chain or deli / takeaways will be disqualified for
three months. This is because these establishments are NOVA Key
"blanket" licensed for all their produce, not individual
products.
So, to recap. You the consumer
will be able to inform the NOVA Key anytime you suspect that a
NOVA Keyed product has been incorrectly marked. The NOVA Key website
listing will track and disqualify manufacturers etc., who are
not marking their product’s NOVA Key correctly. E.g. if the ingredient
listing on a product’s label begins to differ from the ingredients
that the manufacturer or restaurant has submitted to the NOVA
Key and displayed on the website, this will be the first indication
that a manufacturer isn’t adhering to the rules. You,
the consumer, will be able to inform the NOVA Key administration
if you find any products, restaurants etc., that you believe are
misusing the Key.
If any manufacturer or establishment
is using the NOVA Key who is not on the website list then they
are doing so without licence or permission. Such misuse will be
clearly shown as blacklisted on the NOVA Key website and action
will be taken.
In August 2005, The UK Sunday newspaper
"The Observer" published an article revealing that many
food manufacturers are falsifying their products. Some manufacturers
are claiming that their foods are organic when they aren't. We
applaud the Observer for revealing what we have felt for sometime,
that manufacturers are cheating consumers with false organic labelling.
This revelation raises the urgency more than ever to introduce
the NOVA Key as a legal requirement - and as soon as possible.
Our UK site visitors are urged to contact the UK government department
DEFRA
asking them to initiate the NOVA Key as a legal requirement on
all products.
Wherever you are in the world, if you would like to inform your
country's government about this campaign please send them either
of the following web addresses:
http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/novakey
or
http://www.veggieglobal.com/novakey
Q 16. There's
a lot of contention about what constitutes "organic". What's the
content percentage of a NOVA Keyed product before it can be displayed
without a cross on the "O"?
Answer:
95% organic content is required to ensure the "O" of
the NOVA Key is left without a cross. This is in line with various
independent organic labelling organisations.For example if a tin
of vegetable soup is manufactured as being organic, the vegetables
used must meat organic
criteria, This may still mean that some chemical sprays are used,
but the organic percentage is measured as 95% or over.
If the NOVA Key is used on non food products - for example jewellery,
the organic credentials can vary depending on the overall use
of natural materials and any solvents used in jewellery fixing
like glue. In such an example its likely that the jewellery NOVA
Key crossing will have an uncrossed "O" because even
though the glue used may be of chemical origin it is likely to
only add up to under 5% of the overall jewellery piece.
Non food items made from reclaimed materials of unknown conistency
must cross the "O" on the NOVA Key and probably the
"V" as well as it may contain animal derived ingredients.
The "A" for animal testing may need to be crossed on
non-food products if it contains a chemical additive (such as
glue) which has been tested on animals since 1985. (see
also Q 13)
Finally
If anyone thinks that this NOVA Key is too complicated then here's
the address of a web site where one can buy Hats for Dunces: www.hats-for-dunces.com
... or else go stand in the corner and think about it all for a
while! ...
But joking aside, it's really not complicated, and far easier to
learn than spending hours of your precious time in shops or supermarkets
trying to guess if what you are buying is ethically suitable for
you or your family. Let's face it, the NOVA Key system presents
a really simple, quick identification method, even for the "can't-be-bothereds",
who may be bothered if a familiar, clear labelling key is staring
straight back at them from the product packaging. With very little
effort required from manufacturers and consumers alike, the NOVA
key clears up any confusion about ingredients and the same time
encourages healthier lifestyle options - while inspiring
industries to explore more environmentally
friendly ways to manufacture consumable items. Either way, the choice
is yours - and at least with the NOVA Key, you will easily be able
to identify your preferences - anyway you like ... all through the
simple indication of a red cross ... or not.
Until then, "To V or not to V ... that is the confusion!"
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