Italy is introducing mandatory origin labelling for tomato concentrate, sauces, and preserves that contain at least 50% tomato.
Product labels will now have to indicate the country of tomato cultivation and processing, reports La Repubblica.
If all operations take place in Italy, the products can use the label, 'Tomato Origin: Italy'.
If these elements of the supply chain occur in several different countries, however, the products should be labelled as 'EU countries', 'non-EU countries', or 'EU and non-EU countries'.
New Measure
The measure came into force after the joint signing of a decree by Italy's Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Ministry of Economic Development.
The law, similar to the one envisaged for dairy, pasta and rice products, will be tested for two years. This will include a transition phase for companies to adapt to the new system and dispose of existing labels and packaging.
Italy's pasta industry has spoken out against the law on labelling for rice and pasta products, however, the tomato labelling measure has been welcomed both by the National Association of the Canned Vegetables Industry (ANICAV) and farmer lobby group Coldiretti.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
