The European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) called on the European Commission on Friday, 18 January to urgently present a report on nutrient profiles “well in advance of the European elections”.
These have been expected for ten years to prevent the agri-food industry from making fanciful and misleading claims about the supposed virtues of food and drink and to enable consumers to make healthy and informed food choices.
The 2006 EU Regulation on nutrition and health claims (Regulation 1924/2006 as amended by Regulation 109/2008/EC) provided for the establishment of nutrient profiles in 2009.
This call was launched on the eve of the tenth anniversary of this expectation, during which consumer organisations have constantly called upon the Commission (see EUROPE 11788).
“The EU Commission has regrettably turned a deaf ear to our long-standing calls. Consumers have been misled by countless claims which disguise unhealthy foods as healthy options”, says Monique Goyens, Director General of BEUC, in a statement. She considers this delay all the more unacceptable as weight issues are soaring in Europe.
Stressing the necessity for the urgent adoption of these nutrient profiles, the BEUC is expecting a report from the current Commission, as part of the REFIT exercise that it had invoked, as a last resort, to postpone their publication. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)