Manufacturers face ingredient origin labelling laws
Food manufacturers in the EU may have to note the origin of certain ingredients on labelling, under a new proposed EU food marketing standards system.The European Commission on Friday (10 December) tabled a regulation enabling it, following consultation, to order such ingredient labelling – a memorandum said the dairy sector would be assessed first.
If EU ministers and the European Parliament approve these powers, Brussels could force manufacturers to declare the geographical origin of the milk, butter and cheese used in their products. The proposal says the Commission wants to authorise “mandatory labelling on place of farming at the appropriate geographical level… to satisfy consumers’ demands for transparency and information.”
EU agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos added: “Farmers…need the tools to better communicate about their products to consumers.”
The proposal is part of a so-called ‘quality package’ on boosting EU food production. Another change would simplify the EU’s legal protection for ‘traditional specialities’, insisting long-standing processed products are made by standardised methods, maybe in their traditional home region.
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The issue of Country of Origin has been talked about here for years, most recently in the Truth in Labelling Sentate Inquiry in October 2009 and still Australians are denied their right to know where their food is grown. Most important in an environment where we are importing more food than we export, foreign owned processors source from the cheapest they can find and sell to us under barnds we think we can trust. The Eu are giving priority to their producers while we get accused of protectionism if we talk about this.