EU: Industry body opposes EU labelling regs

7 November 2008 | Source: just-food.com

European food industry body the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) has spoken out against new EU regulations governing food labelling.

In a bid to battle rising obesity rates, the European Commission has tabled legislation that requires dietary information to be featured on food labels "in the principal field of vision" and in a minimum print size of three millimetres.

However, a spokesperson for CIAA told just food that in some instances such a constraint is "impractical" due to the size or style of the package.

There are also some concerns in the industry that large labels detailing nutritional information will overwhelm brand identity.

Pointing to recent research and the CIAA-baked voluntary labelling system, the spokesperson said the European food industry is already actively implementing a voluntary nutrition labelling system based on Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs).

"The legislation is impractical, inflexible and unnecessary when manufacturers are increasingly adopting the GDA labelling system on a voluntary basis," the spokesperson commented.

The CIAA represents a wide variety of companies who distribute food and beverage products in the EU, including industry giants such as Nestlé, Cadbury, Campbell, Heinz, Mars and PepsiCo.

just-food.com