Federal Minister of Food Aigner calls for clear labelling of food substitutes in the EU
Forsa study: 90 percent of consumers want better information
On 16 June, the European Parliament will vote on the content of the Regulation on Food Information. Federal Minister of Food Ilse Aigner calls for this Regulation to include specific EU-wide labelling requirements for cheese and ham substitutes so that consumer can be certain about what they are eating. The German proposal has been taken up by Members of the European Parliament and will now also be voted on.
Source: Nitr, Fotolia.com
According to a survey carried out by Forsa on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food, more than 90 percent of citizens think that the current labelling of ham substitutes is insufficient. "The result of the survey confirms my view that we urgently need compulsory Europe-wide labelling of ham and cheese substitutes which is comprehensible for all consumers," stated Aigner today in Berlin. "If there were a majority in the European Parliament in favour of labelling substitutes, this would mark an important step towards protecting consumers against deception."
Forsa conducted a representative survey in May this year and questioned more than 2.000 consumers aged 14 and older. According to this survey, the majority of people asked are aware of the fact that ham substitutes are used and more than half of the interviewees said that they often or very often looked at the list of ingredients. Yet consumers find it difficult to distinguish between ham and ham substitutes. More than 90 percent believe that current labelling is insufficient and are in favour of additional information stating that a product contains ham substitutes.
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