Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

The nutrition labelling landscape is constantly evolving, and although final decisions on various global regulations are unlikely to be made over the next year, food manufacturers need to strategize for a number of potential outcomes, according to a new report.

The Future of Nutrition Labelling for Food and Drinks in Europe was published by Business Insights last month to provide an overview of the nutrition labelling options being considered internationally.

“Front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labeling regulations will have a huge impact on the marketing of healthy food and drink. The rules about what you can and cannot claim will change. For brands that are built around a specific claim, this will mean changing the entire brand strategy, not just the packaging and marketing approach,” writes the analyst.

?”Companies need to be more forward-thinking and ready to react to FOP regulatory change as soon as it becomes effective will be the most successful over the next two to three years.”

Highlighting nutrients

National dietary guidelines around the world have largely focused on highlighting four nutrients, recommending moderate consumption of these: fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.

However, the way in which this information should be presented has long been an area of contention, with one of the biggest criticisms of voluntary labeling schemes being that they create consumer confusion.

The report highlights findings from the European Consumers’ Association (BEUC; Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs), which reveal that a system of colour-coding on the front of processed food packaging is best understood by consumers.

This kind of system would use red, amber and green ‘traffic lights’ to concisely display whether the key nutrients of fat, saturated fats, sugars and salt are high, medium or low.

Taking the lead?

However, the analyst highlights that at the end of March 2010, the European Parliament Environment Committee decided against making the use of a traffic light system mandatory, and that EU member states may adopt their own national rules.

“It therefore seems likely that manufacturers will take the lead in selecting the (…) national rules,” writes Business Insight.

“Sweden’s Keyhole FOP labelling system is frequently cited as a best-practice example that has stood the test of time in the global debate. First established in Sweden in 1989, it became accepted as a Nordic label for healthier food and drink in Denmark, Sweden and Norway on June 17, 2009.”

packaging nutrition labelling

The European Commission has announced the winner of its contest to design a new logo to appear on all organic food and beverage products in the European Union: a leaf-shaped design from Germany that attracted 63 per cent of the votes.

The Commission turned to design students to come up with the new logo after the initial insignia was withdrawn for resembling too closely the logo of a supermarket chain. The three shortlisted entries were scrutinised closely to ensure there were no infringements, and some 130,000 people voted online for their favourite.

The winning design comprised twelve stars in the shape of a leaf and is said to be “a very straightforward sign containing two clear messages: Nature and Europe”. It was drawn up by German student Dusan Milenkovic, who receives €6000 in prize money. The identities and nationalities of the three final contenders have not previously been published, to prevent skewing the voting.

Agriculture and rural development commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said: “This exercise has raised the profile of organic food and we now have a logo which everyone will be able to identify with. It’s a nice elegant design and I look forward to buying products carrying this logo from July this year.”

The new logo has to be inserted into the organic farming regulation’s annex in the coming weeks. It will then be compulsory on new organic products as of 1 July 2010, but industry has until 1 January 2012 before labels on all existing products need to be changed. National, region, or private labels will be allowed to appear on packaging alongside the common EU logo.

Not everyone was so delighted with the design, however. Molly Conisbee, director of communications and campaigns at the Soil Association said:

“The Soil Association doesn’t believe the EU logo will address the desire of consumers to know more about the provenance of their food and its journey from the farm to plate, or help to develop a connection between food producer and eater.

We don’t think people who buy organic food are so much concerned about EU origins – as that it was produced to high environmental and animal welfare standards, and is free from GM and harmful additives.”

Richard Jacobs, chief executive of UK control body, Organic Farmers & Growers, told FoodNavigator.com in December:

“As tends to be the case with EU regulation, the timescales are getting tight for implementation. Lead times on new products can be significant and if the logo is adopted only by April or May, it doesn’t give long before the July deadline for its introduction for new products to be suitably labelled.”

Health EU, nutrition labelling, organic logo