European salt trade body EUSalt admits the “battle is lost” to prevent mandatory EU-wide salt labelling on food products after Guideline Dietary Allowance (GDA) measures were approved as expected in a European Parliament vote this afternoon.
More research is needed to appreciate how consumers can be helped to understand and use nutrition labels, according to a new report on nutrition labelling from the European Food Information Council (EUFIC).
Optional cholesterol labelling of food products may soon be banned in the European Union if a draft regulation on food information to consumers passes in its existing form.
MEPs have voted to allow nectar manufacturers to drop “with added sugar” labelling and to permit tangerine juice to be added to orange juices made in the EU.
EFSA’s panel on additives and nutrient sources (ANS) has concluded that the ADI of natural red-orange colour lutein may be extended to extracts of Tagetes erecta with at least 60 per cent total carotenoids as esters, after the examination of new data...
Industry federation the CIAA has branded MEP’s desire for mandatory labelling of trans fats on food and beverage products as ‘a step too far’, supporting the council view that trans fats info should be voluntary.
Country of origin labelling may harm small businesses, and is likely to prove the trickiest point in trilogues over food information, says rapporteur MEP Renate Sommer after today’s ENVI vote. She suspects some member states’ votes may have been influenced...
One expert has branded the proposed new EU food information legislation “crazy” ahead of a second vote on the issue by Parliament's Environment, Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) tomorrow.
Consumers consider the level of beneficial nutrients as more important when selecting food products than energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, which should be consumed in moderation, according to a new study that could help inform food labelling...
The European Parliament’s ENVI committee will seek to hammer out compromises over several contentious amendments of the new food information legislation tomorrow, ahead of the second reading vote next week.
When it comes to deciding whether to purchase functional foods, ‘the principal considerations still do not pertain to health, but rather taste and price’ according to a new consumer study.
A major stakeholder in the European Union Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health that has established 297 individual commitments to improve the health of Europeans in the six years of its existence, has highlighted its effectiveness.
Ten years after the first European Commission reports were handed in, with little in the way of demonstrable obesity-reduction results, the European Union Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health is taking “a flexible approach” over coming years...
A new healthy food logo is launching in The Netherlands, replacing the Dutch version of the Choices logo and retailer Albert Heijn’s clover logo that were previously used on products – with a new set of scientific criteria developed by an independent...
The European Commission is still unable to say when the controversial nutrient profiling model in the EU health claims Regulation will be finalised, two years after food manufacturers were told it would be published.
Mothers’ use of nutritional labels has some impact on the likelihood of their children being obese, indicates a study from Taiwan, but it is not enough to tackle the problem alone and more policy measures are needed.
The probability of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament reaching agreement over food information legislation looks slimmer than ever, indicates rapporteur Renate Sommer, as the ministers did not take on board many of the points MEPs were...
As all parties would probably admit in these stressful times for the European Union functional food industry, we are still some way away from resolving the core issues that resulted in the adoption of Regulation 1924/2006 – the 2006 nutrition and health...
A new survey of UK consumers’ understanding of nutrition information on food labels found most had a good grasp of predominant front-of-pack schemes – but only 27 per cent used that info to inform their food choices.
Magazine adverts for follow-on formula containing prebiotics and omega-3s have been rapped in the UK for making brain health claims unauthorised by the European Union nutrition and health claims regulation (NHCR).
Membership of the Choices Foundation and use of the front-of-pack label has motivated Dutch food manufacturers to reformulate products and develop new ones with healthier composition, indicates a new study.
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.
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...
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,...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing intakes of sugars from processed and prepared foods may detrimentally affect levels of HDL ‘good’ cholesterol, says a new study from the US.
“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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Consumers are confused about what country of origin labelling actually means, finds a new research synthesis that reinforces the case for greater clarity.
The CIAA has signalled its priorities for Spain’s six month presidency of the EU, with competitiveness, food information, novel foods revisions, research and sustainability topping the bill.
