| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.9, No.41, 4.12.03, p17 |
| Publication Date | 04/12/2003 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Karen Carstens Date: 04/12/03 BESIDES taking on tobacco in a big way, David Byrne has dared to boldly go where no commissioner has gone before in another area - food. Last July the Irish health and consumer protection commissioner put forward a regulation, now under discussion in the European Parliament, to weed out potentially misleading promotional terms, such as "90% fat-free" or "this may purify your organism". Manufacturers, advertisers and some governments are anxious about the final form the regulation will take, claiming that the nutrition and health claims proposal could stifle innovation and prove too costly to implement. But food law experts and consumer groups have welcomed the initiative as finally creating a level playing field in what has hitherto been virgin territory for EU legislation. "I absolutely commend Commissioner Byrne - it's an issue that loads of other commissioners before him have dodged," said Raymond O'Rourke, a food lawyer with the Dublin-based practice, Mason Hayes & Curran. UK food retailers grouped under the British Retail Consortium (BRC), however, say that while they welcome the creation of a single system, they are concerned about several aspects of the health claims proposal. "We want a regulation that encourages innovation to meet the needs of customers," several BRC experts said at a recent meeting in Brussels. The UK, along with Ireland, has by far the biggest "ready-made" food market in the EU, with time-strapped shoppers more likely to pick up ready-to-eat sandwiches, salads, frozen pizzas or exotic gourmet microwave meals. While this sector of the food industry has grown exponentially over the past 15 years in the UK, it is less familiar to many other European consumers, especially in Mediterranean countries, BRC experts pointed out. However, this may be about to change. Dutch food giant Ahold, for instance, is currently expanding its line of pre-prepared meals. Consumers, claimed the foodsellers, want easy-to-read information on the front of packaging that they can scan in a few seconds, and they want this information to tell them about how healthy a choice they are making. But the EU health claims proposal could put an end to certain labelling schemes on the front of packaging. UK clothing and food retailer Marks & Spencer, for instance, would have to remove the colourful triangles indicating calorie, salt and fat content on the front of their processed food products. A pre-packaged "Chilli Con Carne With Rice" dish, for instance, is currently emblazoned with bright little green, blue and purple triangles indicating it contains "less than 2% fat", is "salt balanced" and has "380 calories per pack". But, the food retailers warned, the new EU rules would force the company to remove this easy-to-spot information from the front of the package and relegate it to the fine print on the back. This could even have "unintended consequences leading people to make less healthy choices" they said, since market research reveals that today's consumers don't want to spend an extra couple of minutes flipping over food packages to scan every single label. Moreover, they added, long-term incentives to invest more in research and development to come up with ever more creative and healthy processed foods could be stifled by this new approach, enshrined in Article 4 of the proposal, which regulates the use of "nutrition profiles". The Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) has argued that "prohibiting the use of claims on certain foods on the basis of their "nutritional profile" is contrary to the basic principle in nutrition that there are no "good" or "bad" foods but rather "good" and "bad" diets", a view that was echoed by the BRC experts. But Raymond O'Rourke said the debate over the proposal highlights how many food manufacturers would rather keep things vague. "They don't really want things like "low fat" and "high fibre" to be defined too specifically," he said. "What's fair about this is that it has finally defined what "low fat" and "high fibre" should be." Under the new system, only claims that can be substantiated scientifically and have been evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will be permitted. "This is a system that is not unlike the United States"," said O'Rourke. "Overall, this is a proposal that is very good." The EU could also take a cue from Washington in monitoring how logos and images are "used to state or imply a claim" and how product endorsements - for instance of sugary breakfast cereals by star athletes - influence how "claims are perceived and understood by the final consumer", he added. "In the United States the validity of food advertising campaigns is monitored by the Federal Trade Commission and I believe that a similar situation should prevail at EU-level, possibly with EFSA permitted to monitor and comment upon particular cases in which advertising misleads, rather than informs, the consumer." As for the Marks & Spencer triangles, he said: "If they think these symbols are so good then they should get them accepted at EU level - but, instead, they have their own patent on them." The new rules, expected to enter into force by late 2005, would be broken down into two categories. For the first, focusing on nutritional claims, the Commission would provide a list of precise benchmarks and definitions detailing when a product may be labelled, for instance, "high in fibre" or "low in sodium". Only less than 3% fat content in food and 1.5% fat content in drinks would allow for a "light" label. A second category would focus on "generally recognized" claims, such as "calcium prevents osteoporosis", as well as implied claims, such as "this product will keep you young". Most of the latter would be banned. Health claims for beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages above 1.2% would also be forbidden. Only "light" or "alcohol-free" labels would still be allowed on beer. Rules already exist in most member states, but their mode of implementation varies widely from a strict system in Denmark to Germany, where rules exist but are hardly observed (albeit largely because the issue has traditionally been handled at Länder, or regional, level). The health claims proposal was discussed at an environment committee meeting in the European Parliament on Monday (1 December), and MEPs are due to vote on it by early next year. Article considers a proposed regulation put forward by David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection on health and nutrition claims for food and food supplements. The Commission adopted the proposed regulation on 16 July 2003. |
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