The alcoholic beverages sector will have a year to bring forward a self-regulation proposal so that the roll-out of the compulsory labelling of the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration is harmonised across the EU.
That was the invitation made by the European Commission on Monday 13 March in a report, which has been awaited for more than two years, on the exemptions to the regulation on the provision of food information to consumers (EU 1169/2011).
The aim is to provide consumers with information on the ingredients and nutritional value of alcoholic drinks so that informed choices can be made.
“This report … does not identify any objective grounds justifying the absence of the list of ingredients and nutrition information on alcoholic beverages. The expansion of voluntary initiatives from the sector has already been ongoing and is brought to the fore in the report”, stated Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.
The Commission will assess the industry proposal. Were it to consider the approach proposed to be unsatisfactory, it would then launch an impact assessment to review further available options.
Regulation EU 1169/2011, which became applicable in December 2014, requires ingredients to be listed and a nutrition declaration provided for all foods, including alcoholic beverages, with the exception of beverages containing more than 1.2% alcohol per volume.
Firm in its belief that consumers have the right to know the composition of what they are consuming, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) wrote to the Commission in 2015 pressing it finally to present its report on whether European food information rules should, in future, also apply to alcoholic beverages (see EUROPE 11254). In Parliament, MEPs are growing impatient at the delay by the Commission (see EUROPE 11540).
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) welcomes the approach adopted. “The SWA welcomes the Commission’s invitation to the alcoholic beverages’ industry to develop, within a year, a self-regulatory proposal. We believe that Scotch Whisky should be consumed in a responsible manner, as part of a balanced diet. It is right that consumers have the information they need to make choices that fit with a healthy lifestyle, including calorie intake”, said Julie Hesketh-Laird, SWA’s acting chief executive in a press release. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)