The ECA requires the strengthening of the regulations to ensure that food products are labeled in an honest and informative way, so that consumers are able to make wise choices when they go to the store.
– Instead of bringing clarity, the labeling often creates confusion. There are hundreds of different arrangements, logos and claims that have to be deciphered, says Keit Pentus-Rosimannus in ECA.
– Companies can be very creative in the way they label goods, and EU rules have not kept up with a constantly developing market. That makes 450 million European consumers vulnerable to deliberately or unconsciously misleading labelling, he says.
Does not protect
Certain types of labeling contain useful information, such as whether a product is organic or gluten-free, but the current rules do not protect against misleading labeling, ECA warns.
Even foods that contain large amounts of fat, sugar or salt can today be labeled as healthy, according to ECA’s report.
Other items contain an excessive number of warnings, which can contribute to allergy sufferers, vegetarians and vegans being left with a limited offer when they go to the store.
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Green washing
ECA is also critical of the fact that current EU rules do not, to a small extent, require manufacturers to disclose how healthy or unhealthy food products are, as well as the flood of different labeling schemes.
Several of the labeling schemes are voluntary and can contribute to so-called greenwashing because they have not been verified by independent bodies.
Greenwashing means that products are presented as more environmentally friendly, climate friendly and healthy than they really are.
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