Heavy Lobbying Leads to Clearer EU Food Labeling Regulation

Under the new rules, the energy value and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrates, protein, sugars and salt must be indicated in the same field of vision per 100g or per 100ml and may, additionally, also be expressed per portion.

Sep 30 3011 --- Food labelling will be clearer, simpler and more honest following heavy lobbying in Europe by the UK, DEFRA claims. The victory means it will be far easier for consumers to know what’s in the food they’re buying.

Following a key vote yesterday, the EU agreed to make it compulsory for manufacturers and retailers to clearly state:

•  The country of origin of fresh and frozen meat;
•  If any of the main ingredients in foods claiming British origin are actually imported;
•  If there is more than five per cent water content in cuts of meat such as bacon;
•  Nutritional labelling on the back of packs;
•  The types of vegetable oils used – such as palm oil;
•  Information in an agreed minimum sized font;
•  Allergen information for unpackaged food, including in restaurants; and
•  High caffeine drinks will require additional labelling.

The EU has also agreed:
•  To make it easier for alcohol companies to voluntarily include calorie information;
•  To set out voluntarily criteria for front of pack nutrition labelling on pre-packed food and drink; and
•  To enable voluntary provision of calorie information in out of home settings.

Britain has also protected its traditional practice of selling by numbers – such as a dozen bread rolls or eggs – and imperial measures, from EU plans to require metric weights on all products, thanks to strong lobbying, DEFRA claims.

UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “We’ve fought long and hard for more honest labelling so that consumers can make up their own minds about what they eat. Shoppers will now be absolutely sure that if meat claims to be British, it will be British – reared to the high standards they’d expect.
 
“We’ve also protected what we already hold dear. Selling eggs or bread rolls by the dozen, and using imperial measures like pints, are great British traditions that we all know and love, and there was no way I was going to let them be put at risk.”

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said, “We have led the way in nutritional labelling, pioneering voluntary labelling in the UK. This regulation will now ensure that everyone will have the information they need to make an informed choice about what they eat and help them make healthier choices.”

The probably most important innovative element of the new food labelling rules is the  mandatory nutrition information on prepacked foods. Under the new rules, the energy  value and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrates, protein, sugars and salt (which  together form the "mandatory nutrition declaration") must be indicated in the same field  of vision per 100g or per 100ml and may, additionally, also be expressed per portion. The  intention is to enable consumers to make healthier dietary choices. Another important  element of the draft regulation is the introduction of a minimum font size of 1.2 mm (for the x-height) for all mandatory information which is aimed to improve legibility of food  labels. A third important element is the extension of compulsory country of origin  labelling to fresh meat of swine, sheep and goats, and poultry (in addition to beef, for which a separate piece of legislation was introduced during the BSE crisis, and to fruits and vegetables, honey, olive oils, and cases where the failure to do so misleads the consumer). Further improvements of the EU food labelling rules concern allergens (which in the future must be highlighted in the list of ingredients), vegetable oils (whose specific vegetable origin must be indicated) and imitation foods (which consumers will be able to
recognise more easily).