The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety decided, on Wednesday 29 November, to strengthen the proposal revising the marketing standards applicable to certain agri-food products, including honey (see EUROPE 13293/15).
The draft report by Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, Austrian), which amends the European Commission's initial proposal, was adopted by the European Parliament Committee with 73 votes in favour, 2 against and 10 abstentions.
Clear labelling of geographical origin of honey. Under the compromise amendments, MEPs want the country where the honey was harvested to appear on the label in the same visual field as the product indication. If the honey originates from more than one country, the countries will be indicated on the label in descending order according to proportion and if more than 75% of the honey comes from outside the EU, this information will also be indicated clearly on the front label (see EUROPE 13294/15). To further limit honey fraud, including the use of sugar syrups in honey that is very difficult to detect, MEPs also want to set-up a traceability system along the supply chain to be able to track the origin of the honey. EU beekeepers with fewer than 150 hives would be exempt.
MEPs agree that ‘no added sugar’ should be allowed for fruit juices, but not for fruit nectars. To meet the growing demand for low-sugar products, reformulated fruit juices could be labelled ‘reduced-sugar fruit juice’. According to the MEPs, new techniques that remove naturally occurring sugars in fruit juices, jams, jellies or milk should not lead to the use of sweeteners to compensate for the effect of sugar reduction on the taste, texture and quality of the final product. In addition, reduced-sugar fruit juices must not be labelled with claims relating to positive properties (beneficial effects on health).
For fruit juices, jams, jellies, marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée, MEPs also want the country of origin of the fruit used to manufacture the juice to be indicated on the front label. If the fruit used originates from more than one country, the countries of origin must be indicated on the label in descending order according to their proportion.
Regarding jams, MEPs approved the proposal to increase the minimum fruit content, reducing the required added sugar for certain products, and allows the term ‘marmalade’ to be used for all jams (previously this term was only allowed for citrus jams).
Parliament is due to adopt the report at its plenary session from 11 to 14 December, after which it will be ready to begin negotiations with the EU Member States. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)