MEP 'quite confident' Council of Ministers will back traffic light labels

27-Sep-2010 - MEP Glenis Willmott is "quite confident" that the European Council will overturn the European Parliament’s (EP’s) decision to scrap colour-coded front-of-pack food labelling in the EU.

Food firms must prepare nutrition labelling strategies, says analyst

10-Sep-2010 - The nutrition labelling landscape is constantly evolving, and although final decisions on various global regulations are unlikely to be made over the next year, food manufacturers need to strategize for a number of potential outcomes, according to a new report.

Legislation fails to assess allergen risk-benefits in novel food

23-Aug-2010 - Novel hypoallergenic foods that could benefit consumers with serious allergies are being overlooked by current legislation warn researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Further risk-benefit studies are needed to remedy that problem, according to a study published in the journal Food Control.

Study seeks attention-grabbing nutrition labels

26-Jul-2010 - A new study has concluded that nutrition labels best attract attention if they are double-sized, monochrome, and appear in the same spot on food packaging.

MEPs plump for GDAs over traffic lights

17-Jun-2010 - The much-anticipated EU parliament vote on amendments to the proposed food information regulation came down on the side of the industry’s own GDAs – to the chagrin of health groups believe traffic lights are more accessible.

Nutrient profiles reinstated in EU Parliament vote – just

17-Jun-2010 - Members of the European Parliament have voted to put back clauses on nutrient profiling into the proposed food information regulation, after Environment Committee members voted to take them out – but it was a close call.

Last minute industry lobbying before labelling vote

16-Jun-2010 - The industry has made some final lobbying calls before the vote at lunchtime today

German consumers relate to energy scale on food packs

16-Jun-2010 - A German health consultancy is proposing a simple new scale for displaying nutritional information on foods which it says performs well on consumer understanding in comparison with GDAs.

Don’t delete nutrient profiling, say health groups

15-Jun-2010 - Health and consumer groups are lobbying against the deletion of nutrient profiling in from the proposed regulation on food information ahead of tomorrow’s Parliament vote over fears that consumers could be misled.

Italian industry opposes national provisions of food labelling

14-Jun-2010 - The Italian food industry federation Federalimentare is lobbying for the deletion of chapter VI of the draft food information regulation, on the grounds that it will harm competitiveness and confuse consumers.

Nutrient profiling vote unlikely before June

18-May-2010 - The European Parliament is unlikely to vote on a proposal to scrap nutrient profiling before mid-June, FoodNavigator.com has learned.

French food makers could do better on nutrition, survey finds

11-May-2010 - Large variations in the nutritional profile of products within the same food category indicate there is scope for improvement, concludes a survey from France which also found great differences in the level of nutritional info on packs.

Dietary sugars may be affecting cholesterol levels: Study

22-Apr-2010 - Increasing intakes of sugars from processed and prepared foods may detrimentally affect levels of HDL ‘good’ cholesterol, says a new study from the US.

Comment

Groundhog Day for European health claims?

19-Apr-2010 - “Many in industry are pinning their hopes on EFSA showing them the light at the meeting, including the likes of Danone, which withdrew three probiotic immunity/digestive health article 13.5 claims in April, citing clarification it is expecting on Big Monday as the reason.”

Parliament votes not to make traffic lights mandatory

17-Mar-2010 - The European Parliament has finally voted in rapporteur’s report on the proposed new nutritional labelling regulation, appearing to favour a loose set of general rules. The idea of making traffic light mandatory is out – as is a ban on co-existent national schemes.

CIAA reaffirms per portion labelling position

12-Mar-2010 - The EU food industry considers that portion information on the front of packs is helpful to consumers in making food choices, supported by per 100g/ml information on the back of pack.

FSA board agrees triple-pronged labelling push

11-Mar-2010 - The board of the UK’s Food Standards Agency has agreed to recommend a new approach to front-of-pack labelling to health ministers, which uses traffic lights and text and GDAs.

Spider and snake enzymes could deliver healthy food

10-Mar-2010 - Danisco is starting a new four-year research project to investigate potential uses of enzymes produced by spiders, snakes and carnivorous plants as processing aids for food and other industrial uses.

Health claims could impact natural perception

09-Mar-2010 - Making a health claim on a product could lead consumers to think it is less natural and less tasty, according to a new study which also puts a dent in the so-called ‘healthy halo’.

FSA tweaks traffic lights to include GDAs, wording

08-Mar-2010 - The UK’s Food Standards Agency is changing tack over traffic light labels, its preferred scheme for much of the last decade, due to EU regulatory debates and new evidence on consumer preferences.

EU labelling could be seen as a trade barrier

01-Mar-2010 - European food labelling must be honest and informative to consumers while not unfairly penalising suppliers from countries outside the EU, Robert Madelin, director general of the European Commission’s health directorate DG Sanco, has argued.

EFSA to hold May health claims summit

25-Feb-2010 - The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will host a May summit at its Italian headquarters that will provide a rare opportunity for direct dialogue between stakeholders and the agency’s health claims panel.

New EU organic logo unveiled

08-Feb-2010 - The European Commission has today announced the winner of its contest to design a new logo to appear on all organic food and beverage products in the European Union: a leaf-shaped design from Germany that attracted 63 per cent of the votes.

Food nutrition labels fail to impress European consumers

27-Jan-2010 - Less than one-third of European consumers look for nutrition labels when shopping, according to a new study by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) published in the Journal of Public Health.