Do we need more detailed food labelling?



NO:

EU regulations will not combat obesity but will reduce consumer choice by favouring processed goods over small-scale manufacturers, Mark Fielding

CONSUMERS ARE interested more than ever in the origin and quality of food they buy. However, consumers also like simplicity of information. Producers are obliged to ensure consumers are safe from misleading and incorrect information and by extension to assist them in making proper choices. As the growing, harvesting and production of food becomes increasingly complex, information on the products must be useful and understandable.

For large batch producers, the label is the only method of getting this information to the public. With this in mind, the EU has introduced a regulation on the provision of food information to the consumer.

This regulation was initially to be welcomed as an opportunity to achieve more efficient labelling legislation, focusing on essential information needed by consumers and leaving operators with sufficient flexibility. However, as with other legislation, the regulation is far too complex to be workable in practice and kills the intention of simplicity. The practical difficulties for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the predominant majority of all Irish and European food manufacturers and caterers, remain completely unconsidered.

Even a little change of recipe will require a new analysis and therefore an adaptation of the labelling. A seasonal changing of the products will be too costly for small craft enterprises and consequently the consumer will no longer be able to choose from a wide range of fresh and seasonal products.

It has been said that those who like sausages or legislation should never watch either being made. With this proposed legislation there will never again be a need for such a warning as the day of the artisan butcher, baker and candy stick maker will be brought to an end by over-regulation so out of touch with reality that it brings a whole new meaning to the Nanny State.

With the new rules, SMEs will have to provide information to which "consumers attach significant value". SME food producers will now have to label goods to satisfy vegetarians, vegans, lactose intolerants, coeliacs, Hindus, Muslims, Mormons, Holy Rollers, friends of the forest, sea and earth, and members of every known sect on what may affect them. These are not safety matters, and should not be required. There is also a mandatory requirement to include a "nutrition declaration" on the label. This would seem to be as a result of public policy concerns about obesity, and is based on false assumptions and unproven theories but gives the political kudos that comes from pandering to public opinion. Scientific evidence from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and Vermont University states that greater nutritional labelling has little or no effect on obesity rates, or on general nutritional behaviour. A compulsory declaration of nutritional values for all types of food products is meaningless.

Not alone is it meaningless but it is impossible, in terms of the time required and the financial implications, for small businesses to order a nutritional analysis for every craft pre-packed foodstuff. Unlike standardised industrial recipes, craft recipes are subject to changes, because raw materials and consumer demands are ever-changing. Mandatory nutrition labelling would make it impossible for the craft sector to adapt to consumer demand and offer greater product variety.

Food artisans will have to operate with external experts to quantify the nutritional and energy levels required for ingredients. This will affect SMEs , as it will see significantly increased costs for SMEs in compliance and package redesign. Without fundamental changes, small and medium enterprises will be put out of business for packaged foods.

It is also appropriate to consider how we get all of this information on a pack complying with the Brussels regulations. Due to changes in dietary habits and waste regulations, packages are constantly becoming smaller. The establishment of minimum font sizes and demands for more and more labelling elements is leading to an impossible impasse. Redesign and repackaging will lead to increased costs and items with minimal packaging will be affected by the minimum font size requirements. The ironic thing about the recommended font size of 3mm is that this requirement is not even fulfilled by the Official Journal of the European Union, the most important information source for European citizens. The capitals have a size of 2mm and the lower case letters a size of 1mm. So, with all this new enlarged and improved labelling, will the consumer be better off? What we do know is that consumers like simplicity of information, but this regulation will kill the simplicity through a headlong rush to "completeness of information".It has no effect on obesity, but will curtail choice, frighten off consumers with information on perfectly safe trace elements, decimate craft and artisan food producers and lead to a well-labelled universal blandness in our food choices.

Welcome to a land labelled bland.

Mark Fielding is chief executive of the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association

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