European consumers will have to be told where most of their meat originates from under new EU food labelling rules, which will become law soon. Members of the European Parliament backed the new rules in a vote on Wednesday. While beef has country-of-origin labelling at present, this will now be extended to poultry, pork and lamb.
MEPs also wanted the country of origin to be visible on dairy produce and processed meat, but EU ministers rejected the proposal. A standard label with information on energy content, fats, sugar and salt will also become mandatory for pre-packed food sold across the EU in the near future. The recent E. coli outbreaks across Europe led to calls for better food labelling. The crisis drew attention to the need for traceability in Europe’s food chain. The European Commission will study the feasibility of widening country of origin labelling to other foods.
The new legislation will give food businesses a maximum of five years to change over to the new labels. (7 July)
© 2011 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine
