Brussels, 13/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 March, the European Parliament opposed the European Commission's proposal on labelling rules for nano-materials in food.
The Commission's proposal, which was tabled in December 2013, is quite simply “erroneous and irrelevant”, said the Parliament in a resolution which was adopted at its plenary session by 402 votes in favour, 258 against and 14 abstentions. This accusation relates in particular to the Commission's idea of informing consumers of the presence of nano-materials only in foods which have been on the market since 2011, with exemptions for all older, even if they contain nano-materials. The Parliament also criticised the very definition of nano-materials, arguing that the criteria established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) should be used, providing for a threshold of 10% for nano-particles used in foods, rather than 50% as proposed by the Commission. (JK)