{"id":424466,"date":"2024-11-26T11:09:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T11:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=424466"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"EU-grocery-shoppers-fooled-by-maze-of-food-labels-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/EU-grocery-shoppers-fooled-by-maze-of-food-labels-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"EU grocery shoppers ‘fooled’ by ‘maze’ of food labels: audit"},"content":{"rendered":"

European grocery shoppers are at risk of “being fooled” by a proliferation of confusing and sometimes misleading food labels, EU auditors said Monday, calling on the bloc to improve current rules.<\/p>\n

Labelling in the EU is meant to give consumers accurate and honest information on the contents of their food so they can make informed decisions about what they are buying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But due to gaps in EU rules consumers can easily get “lost in a maze” of puzzling claims, according to the European Court of Auditors (ECA).\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Instead of bringing clarity, food labels too often create confusion; there are hundreds of different schemes, logos and claims that people need to decipher,” said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, an ECA auditor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Companies can be very creative in what they put on packaging, and EU rules have not caught up with a constantly evolving market, leaving some 450 million European consumers vulnerable to intentionally or unintentionally misleading messages.”<\/p>\n

EU rules require producers to list ingredients, allergens and other mandatory information on food packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Firms can then add voluntary statements including nutrition and health claims — such as “source of Omega-3 fatty acids” or “calcium is necessary to maintain healthy teeth”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here the picture gets muddier, according to the 27-nation bloc’s spending watchdog, as current rules allow businesses to zoom in on the more flattering features of their products and gloss over other aspects.<\/p>\n

An energy bar with lots of sugar can for example be branded simply as “high in protein” and a fatty orange cookie as a “source of fibre”, according to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

– ‘Massive impact’ –<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Even when such claims are false, checks and penalties are weak and almost non-existent for online food sales, it said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Health claims related to plant-substances or “botanicals” are not yet regulated at EU level, which leaves consumers potentially exposed to assertions not supported by science, the auditors added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, there is no EU definition of what “vegan” and “vegetarian” mean, although private certification schemes exist.<\/p>\n

Finally, different “front-of-pack nutrition labelling” schemes such as Nutri-Score and Keyhole, which aim at helping shoppers identify healthier food options, are in use in different countries, adding to the confusion, the ECA said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

European consumer rights group Foodwatch is pushing for Nutri-Score, currently used in France, Germany and a handful other countries, to be adopted across the bloc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Food labels may often be small in size, but they are of huge importance: They shape eating habits of millions of people and therefore have a massive impact on the health of European consumers,” said Suzy Sumner, who heads the group’s Brussels office.<\/p>\n

The ECA urged the European Commission to take a number of steps including addressing the gaps in the EU legal framework, and strengthening member states’ checks on voluntary labels and online retail.<\/p>\n

ub\/del\/js<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Nutri-Score rating system is used in France, Germany and a handful of other countries — some want it applied across the EU<\/p>\n

-LOIC VENANCE
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