Market access
The Belgian NUT number: a hidden blocker for food brands listing in Albert Heijn and beyond
If you are launching a food product in Belgium, there is one detail that catches a surprising number of brands off guard: the Belgian NUT number. It is not a tax code, it is not a barcode and it is not optional for the product categories it applies to. Retailers - including Albert Heijn for its Belgian assortment - actively check it before listing.
What is the Belgian NUT number?
The NUT number is the notification reference issued by the Belgian FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment when a food business operator notifies certain product categories before placing them on the Belgian market.
It applies to food supplements, foods enriched with vitamins or minerals, foods for specific groups (such as infant nutrition or foods for special medical purposes) and certain other regulated categories. The notification is per product, per recipe and per label version. Change the formula or the on-pack claims and you typically need to re-notify.
Once granted, the NUT number must appear on the label in a clear and readable way, usually as 'NUT/PL/AS' followed by a number. It is the public signal that your product has gone through the Belgian notification step.
Why retailers like Albert Heijn check for it
Albert Heijn operates stores in both the Netherlands and Belgium. For products sold through its Belgian network, supplier compliance teams check whether the required NUT number is present on artwork before the product is approved for listing.
The reason is simple: if a notifiable product is sold in Belgium without a NUT number, the retailer shares responsibility for placing a non-compliant product on the market. Listing buyers, quality teams and category managers are trained to refuse artwork that is missing the reference.
Other Belgian and cross-border retailers, including Delhaize, Colruyt and Carrefour Belgium, apply the same logic for supplements and enriched foods. A missing NUT number is one of the fastest ways to get an otherwise compliant product rejected at the listing stage.
Where brands typically get caught out
The most common mistakes we see: assuming a Dutch or French notification covers Belgium, printing artwork before the NUT number is issued, forgetting to re-notify after a recipe change, and placing the NUT number on a sticker rather than on the printed artwork itself.
Importers and private label suppliers are especially exposed. A foreign brand entering Belgium through an importer often does not realise that the importer must hold the notification, not the original manufacturer. That can delay launches by weeks.
What it can actually cost you
- Albert Heijn Belgium or another retailer refuses the listing until the NUT number is on the printed label.
- Stock already produced needs relabelling, which means stickering costs, warehouse handling fees and lost shelf weeks.
- FAVV (the Belgian food safety agency) can order withdrawal from the market for notifiable products sold without a valid NUT number.
- Reputational damage with the buyer: missing such a well-known Belgian requirement signals weak compliance process.
The takeaway
If your product falls under a notifiable category and you want it on Belgian shelves, treat the NUT number as a hard launch dependency - not a nice-to-have. Build it into your artwork approval gate, and recheck after every recipe or claim change. RangeClear flags missing Belgian notification references as a blocker before artwork goes to print.