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With the additive package firmly cast in EU law, the centre stage is now set to be occupied by the second major item of legislation of recent years - a proposed regulation on the provision of food information to consumers which, as the title - A proposed regulation on the provision of food information to consumers - suggests, has a rather broader remit than the simple labelling of food and drink products. The Commission set out its stall on this in January 2008 and the matter is now before the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
Strong and conflicting positions have been taken by MEPs and by food companies, health organisations and others institutions and it would be imprudent to assume that Brussels' ideas will sail through without major change. Indeed such are the disagreements on key issues that many officials told just-food that they believe the regulation may not become law until 2010 or even later.
The Commission's draft proposal reforms the EU's general food and nutrition labelling legislation, based on directive 2000/13/EC, which has been amended many times in recent years but nevertheless stands today in further need of "update and modernisation". These frequent changes reflect different motivations: the early drive behind food and drink labelling legislation was the need to ensure free circulation of goods but now the focus has shifted to consumer rights and, perhaps even more important, health and safety considerations. A recent Brussels white paper - A strategy for Europe on nutrition, overweight and obesity - stressed the need for "clear, consistent and evidence-based information". Nutrition labelling was an established way for providing information to consumers to support health conscious food choices and there was "wide agreement that the effectiveness of nutrition labelling can be strengthened as a means to support consumers' ability to choose a balanced diet", said the paper.
Prior to publishing the proposed new amending regulation, consultations were held with governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry and individuals over the internet in the first half of 2006, (see http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/betterregulation/index_en.htm).
Brussels concluded from the consultations that at present consumers found it difficult to read and understand labels, information on allergens was missing from some foods, origin labelling was "a problematic area" and there was "a legal...