On Thursday 18 January, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative resolution by 425 votes to 75, with 59 abstentions, regretting the delay in examining nutrition and health claims on foods, as regulated by Regulation 1924/2006 (amended by Regulation 109/2008/EC).
To improve implementation of the regulation, it followed its Committee on Environment (rapporteur: Tilly Metz, Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) in recommending action on three fronts. The ID group’s amendment rejecting the insistence on using insects for human consumption was rejected.
The European Parliament would like to see thresholds set for the sugar, salt and fat content of foodstuffs.
It also stresses the need to tackle the 2,000 health claims relating to botanical substances listed by the European Commission in 2012, but still ‘pending’. As a result, both those that have received a negative assessment and those that have not yet been reviewed can still be used in accordance with the general principles of this regulation and national regulations.
Finally, it recommends establishing guidelines for online sales of foodstuffs and food supplements.
Before the vote, Tilly Metz said: “We want a high level of consumer health protection and a well-functioning internal market. Nevertheless, consumers continue to be exposed to misleading claims.”
See the text: https://aeur.eu/f/agg (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)