FDF issues angry response to labelling vote

The European Parliament has blocked changes to labelling that would have allowed new ‘percentage less’ claims on nutrition content, such as sugar, salt and fat – with MPs saying the new labels could have confused or misled consumers.

“I am pleased that the European Parliament has defended the interests of health-conscious consumers, who need to be able to make clear comparisons when shopping for food,” said Matthias Groote, chair of the environment, public health and food safety committee, after the vote.

However, the UK food and drink industry has expressed disappointment at the outcome, concerns about the potential impact on industry’s reformulation work.

“The result is a blow for consumers and industry alike,” says the Food and Drink Federation’s Barbara Gallani, director of food safety and science. “X% less’ and ‘no added salt’ claims would have supported the food industry’s drive to gradually reformulate products, even where technically challenging, by making consumers readily aware of health improvements in their favourite products.”

The proposal would have allowed, for example, a ‘15% less sugar’ claim, which would be based on a previous formulation of the same product. However, MEPs say this would be hard to compare – or could misleadingly appear healthier – than a ‘reduced sugar’ label, which must contain 30 per cent less than other similar products, under existing EU legislation on health and nutrition claims.

However, Gallani adds: “The European Parliament has failed to acknowledge the enormous efforts and investments that the food and drink manufacturing industry has been putting into product reformulation. The Parliament has also shown a complete lack of understanding of the technical and consumer acceptance challenges that make changing recipes to reduce energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt so difficult.

“The vote against this amendment suggests that MEPs have underestimated both consumers’ ability to read food labels and desire to make informed decisions about the foods that make up their diet.”