European politicians will today (16 June) vote on the type of nutrition labels food manufacturers and retailers throughout the EU can place on food packaging.
A plenary session of the European Parliament will convene to vote on how to regulate the food information that is given to consumers.
Go deeper with GlobalData
In March, MEPs sitting on the European Parliament’s Environment Committee decided against making the use of traffic-light nutrition labels mandatory but said EU member states may adopt national rules.
In the UK, for instance, the Food Standards Agency has recommended the use of “flexible” front-of-pack labelling scheme that would include text, traffic lights and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs).
Consumer groups criticised the decision of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee and argued shoppers would not be helped to choose healthier food without the mandatory use of traffic-light labels.
Ahead of today’s vote, consumer advocates at the BEUC, a Europe-wide consumer body, insisted colour-coded labels would make it easier for shoppers to understand the nutritional content of the food they buy.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“European consumers have a right to clear and easy to understand information on packaging as to what their food contains; this is a matter of transparency,” BEUC director general Monique Goyens said.
“Europeans want the tools to make healthy choices for a balanced diet, but few of us have time to analyse the details of contents when shopping, this is why we ask for a labelling system which allows us to make at-a-glance comparisons between various foods. At a time when one in five Europeans are obese, there should be no reason not to empower individuals to improve their diets if they so wish.”
The European Parliament will also later vote on proposals on country-of-origin information and whether to add data on added proteins, fibre and natural and artificial trans fats to labels.
In March, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee urged for labels to include information the country of origin of meat, poultry, dairy products, fresh fruit and vegetables and other single-ingredient products – as well as for meat, poultry and fish when used as an ingredient in processed food.
The committee also argued for the EU to add information on added proteins, fibre and natural and artificial trans fats to labels. Under European Commission plans, the inclusion of that information would be voluntary.
