Food Labelling in Europe
The Eco Label Index currently lists 146 food labels globally and there are plenty more besides I am sure – no Irish labels are in the index, for instance! It is a bewildering range of labels and must be confusing for the consumer. What are the differences between ‘organic’ and ‘bio’; carbon neutral and carbon free; fair trade and fair labour practices; or many of the other wordings used by the lableling organisations. Early food labelling was set up to identify the organic food products and generally in Europe there are three such labels in most countries – one for commercially minded growers, one for smaller lifestyle growers and one for the specialist bio-dynamic growers. These days there are many other issues of concern to interested consumers beyond whether food is organic or not.
European legislation on food labelling has concentrated on the nutrional information for consumers and has been since the 1990’s. New moves are afoot to upgrade the type of information required to keep pace with the changing realities, such as details and clarity around the traceability and provenance of the product eg where animals were born, raised and slaughtered. Other changes around allergens, nutritional details, front of pack display etc are also planned. Another key element is to try to get a degree of consistency across Europe in respect of what is displayed.
The French government has initiated a national ’round table’ of discussions on sustainability since 2007 and one of the measures being implemented is more rigourous food labelling. The idea is to include a carbon footprint calculation based on a life cycle assessment of the product and processes. This presents a range of difficulties to the producer as such calculations are open to wide interpretation. Some foriegn producers are wary that it is designed to favour French produced because of the reduced food miles involved. One French retailer – Casino – took the initiative to display carbon information on hundreds of products taking into account the farm processes, packaging and transport to the supermarket shelves. There is an agreement that Le Bilan Carbonne will be the assessment methodology used for French producers but many of the details are still outstanding.
The European Parliament is trying to avoid having too many national schemes that will only further the consumer and initiatives such as the French one cuts against this goal. Other governments and major retailers, frustrated with the slow moves by Europe, are developing their own labelling systems to incorporate the wider issues that are now concerning many consumers.
