MEPs debate on food information to consumers

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

GROSSETÊTE, Françoise (EPP, FR)

consumers' protection (T)

WILLMOTT, Glenis (S&D, UK, Dame)

SOMMER, Renate (EPP, DE)

food labelling (T)

LEPAGE, Corinne (ALDE, FR)

DALLI, John (MT)

Food information to consumers: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE, in German by Renate SOMMER (EPP, DE) Rapporteur: The information must be legible, the font size is only one factor... we need binding criteria on legibility; information has to be comparable, we need to have reference to 100 grams or 100 millilitres always and not an option for proportions or for portion of food

SOUNDBITE, in German by Renate SOMMER (EPP, DE) Rapporteur: It's wrong to have this traffic lights red, orange and green, the use of these colours in the member states will be arbitrary and there will be too much differences between member states; and this will actually only help food products containing fake ingredients like fake sugar and other imitation ingredients, claiming there is low fat or low sugar... I don't think this is in the interest of consumers.

SOUNDBITE, in German by Renate SOMMER (EPP, DE) Rapporteur: asking whether the consumers want to know where the ingredients come from or this is only a protectionist measure that we should be careful about...

SOUNDBITE, in English by John DALLI, Commissioner: I share the concerns of MEPs about imitation food, I am therefore happy to see the Parliament tabling an amendment containing a provision to explicitly prohibit such misleading practices. However, the introduction of a definition and specific designation of such products would provoke legal problems and wee therefore need to find those designations that give correct and unambiguous information to the consumer.

SOUNDBITE, in English by John DALLI, Commissioner: The principle that consumers should know what they eat should apply not only to pre-packed food but also to food they buy over the counter or when they eat out. I am therefore not in favour of amendments that would limit the scope of the draft regulation. That said, I am open to changing the text on non pre-packed food so that allergen information alone would be mandatory.

SOUNDBITE in French, by Fran&ccedil;oise GROSSET&Ecirc;TE (EPP, FR): There is a lot of good sense that we need in regulating labelling conditions for information to the consumers... In my opinion, the colour codes will stigmatise products and I don't think this is the right solution.

SOUNDBITE in English by Glenis WILLMOTT (S&amp;D, UK): Our continent faces an obesity epidemic on a scale never before seen; we're eating too much fat, sugar and salt and it's contributing to heart disease, diabetes, increase risk of cancer, strokes, leaver disease and even depression. Of course, simply by ensuring consumers can simply identify the nutritional content of their food is not a magic cure, but it will enable consumers to be more aware of the food they buy, compare products and identify the healthiest option at a glance. This is taking control of what they eat. I am proposing we use a colour coding system to do this, not to make a judgement of the product as a whole, but to inform consumers if the product they are buying is low, medium or high in salt, fat and sugar. And this will only apply to complex processed food, such as ready to eat meals, breakfast cereals and all of those convenience foods produced on an industrial scale.

SOUNDBITE in French, by Corinne LEPAGE (ALDE, FR), on the colour code system: on the colour code system: 'We hear it's complicated, it's not true, it's getting simpler, we hear this is a ban, not at all! it's only information; we've been told this is taking consumers for idiots.. well, then why precisely associations of consumers are asking for these colour codes?'