Stricter food labelling for the Swiss

Related tags Switzerland

Regulations covering the labelling of foodstuffs in Switzerland are
being extensively revised, reports Swiss Week.

Regulations covering the labelling of foodstuffs in Switzerland are being extensively revised, reports Swiss Week.

Federal Councilor Ruth Dreifuss explained in a statement last week that new scientific knowledge, as well as developments in international and particularly in EU law, have made numerous changes necessary.

Examples of tougher labelling include so-called alcopops - that is, soft drinks with alcohol content. They must now be clearly labelled as such, with the alcohol content specified. The report continues that the Federal Council is especially interested in banning deceptive packaging. In products such as strawberry yoghurt, chocolate with nuts or pizza with ham, for example, the percentage of the ingredients emphasised on the package (that is to say, strawberries, nuts or ham) must be clearly stated.

A major innovation is mandatory declaration of the 10 ingredients which have the highest allergy potential: grains, eggs, milk, fish, shellfish, soy, peanuts, other nuts, sesame and celery.

Under the new regulations, ingredients or products made from them must be declared if they constitute more than 0.1 per cent (one thousandth) of a food.

In the case of meat, stricter labelling conditions are also imposed. Smoking, marinating or breading meat or meat products no longer counts as "sufficient processing"​ to warrant a change in the labelled country of origin. For example, a Chinese-raised chicken that is merely spiced in Switzerland must be labelled as Chinese and may not be sold as a Swiss chicken.

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