EPHA position paper on Food Labelling

In response to the European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers, EPHA has developed a position with input from its members. EPHA recommends a mandatory European labelling scheme on the front and back of pack, with a traffic light system providing an intepretative element to help consumers make the healthiest choice.


Background on the Commission proposal

The new proposal combines two Directives (Dir 2000/13/EC and Dir 90/496/EEC) into one regulation. This simplifies the structure of the horizontal food labelling legislation. This proposal will be discussed in the European Parliament and European Council.

EPHA Position

EPHA welcomes the proposal from the Commission but believes that even more steps should be taken to protect the health and well-being of European citizens in combating the fight against obesity. With a projected prevalence of 150 million adults and 50 million children by 2010, obesity is a health challenge that must be tackled urgently. EPHA calls for this proposal to be seen as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing obesity as well as a range of nutrition-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and type II diabetes.

One tool to help reduce the prevalence of obesity is to help consumers identify healthy foods and healthier options. Nutrition labelling is a crucial element in a wider strategy as mentioned by the WHO Second Action Plan on Nutrition and is a strong support tool aiding the implementation of nutrition education. A health-friendly Regulation would ensure that consumers are provided with clear, evidence-based information on all food products, including alcoholic beverages, and would help consumers to make an easy, at-a-glance choice between healthier and less healthy products. EPHA has a number of key demands:

Front of Pack Labelling

Research shows that consumers want information on the most important nutrients to be presented on the front of pack. To guarantee a public health approach to labelling, EPHA recommends that energy, saturated fats, sugar and salt be included on the front of pack label. It is particularly important that these nutrients be highlighted, as a reduction in their intake will significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity. This will ensure that labelling provisions meet public health needs as well as consumer preference.

Back of Pack Labelling

A full nutrition declaration on the back of pack should provide consumers with information covering the ’big eight’ (energy, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, fat, saturated fats and salt) plus trans fats [1].

Interpretative Element

The purpose of providing nutrition information is to allow consumers to make informed choices, however successive studies have indicated that consumers are not able to use the information correctly unless they are provided with an interpretative element. Independent, international research has provided convincing evidence to suggest that consumers find the multiple colour coding ’traffic light system’ the easiest to understand. This makes it clear to consumers whether a product contains low, medium or high levels of a certain nutrient, and helps them to make choices both within and across food categories

We stress that this system is implementable (several retailers in the UK, Spain and Portugal have already introduced them on their own brand products) and consumers do not misinterpret the information. The system has led to significant reformulation of products as consumers increasingly choose the healthier options. In addition, concerns that traffic lights and health symbols are mutually exclusive are unfounded. A health symbol could in fact be a complimentary indicator of a product’s overall healthiness.

The traffic light system would be particularly useful on convenience foods, as this is where consumers have the most difficulty identifying healthier options.

Ingredient Labelling on Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages contain high levels of calories and carbohydrates which can hamper efforts to promote good nutrition and reduce obesity in Europe. It is therefore vital that consumers are informed on the ingredients used in the production of beer, wine and spirits. Recital 27 states that alcoholic mixed beverages should provide information on their ingredients with a view to allowing the consumer to make an informed choice; we highlight the need to extend this to all alcoholic beverages. it is also appropriate to ensure that information on the energy and carbohydrate content of alcoholic beverages is provided through mandatory nutrition labelling.

For further information:

- Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers

- ENVI Committee website

- IMCO Committee website

- WHO Europe Nutrition

EPHA related articles:

- ALDE Public Hearing on Efficient Food Labelling in Fighting Obesity
- Food production and consumption environments lead to obesity
- article 3523
- Results of stakeholder consultation on nutrition labelling, 27-01-2004
- Briefing on the TACD conference on food and nutrition
- EFSA to publish opinions on health claims in ’batches’
- New network aims to combat non-communicable diseases
- New studies favour traffic light system for food labelling
- EPHA Special Interest Group on Health Determinants
- Recession affects healthy eating options
- EPHA Position on Nutrient Profiles
- EPHA Food Labelling Amendments Finalised
- Marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children

Footnotes

[1] Clear and consistent food labelling is essential for people with diabetes who need to know the exact carbohydrate content of foods, listed in grams. Carbohydrates should be listed in the mandatory nutrient profile on Front of the Pack label so that people with diabetes who are taking insulin or glucose-lowering tablets are able to match the timing and dosage of their medication to the exact quantity of carbohydrates contained in the food. Where sugars are listed, carbohydrate information should also be given to avoid confusion. IDF Europe would also like to see the introduction of food information for non prepackaged food, where possible, for the reasons outlined above.

Last modified on October 13 2009.