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Labelling can help consumers make informed, healthy and sustainable food choices.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) publishes the results of a scientific study related to food information to consumers on origin labelling.

The European Commission will use the findings of these studies as input for a proposal to revise the EU rules on the information provided to consumers as part of the EU’s ‘Farm-to-Fork’ Strategy and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

The scientists reviewed the literature on the impact of origin information of food products on purchase decisions and consumption. They looked into how and why consumers use, understand, and are influenced by origin information, coming to the following conclusions:

• Information about both country of origin and place or region of origin has a substantial influence on consumers’ food choices.
• Consumers attach importance to origin information as:
  1. a cue to good quality and environmentally friendly products;
  2. on average they like to support their local or domestic farmers and food industry.
• Consumers report (in surveys) that they attach importance to origin information. However, when actually shopping, they may focus less on origin information than they would like to (because of time pressure, the attractiveness of brands etc.).

Read the full report: Consumer understanding of origin labelling on food packaging and its impact on consumer product evaluation and choices: A systematic literature review.

In a ruling on 1 October, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that the EU harmonised regulation for food labelling “does not preclude member states (MSs) from adopting measures providing for additional mandatory particulars regarding the origin or provenance.” However, the ECJ added that those national measures need to be justified on one or several grounds, including the protection of public health and prevention of food fraud. The adoption of mandatory origin labelling is possible only if there is a “proven link between certain qualities of the food concerned and their origin of provenance.”  The onus is on MSs to provide evidence that the majority of consumers attach significant value to the provision of that information.  The case had been brought to the ECJ by the French Government on the case lodged by the company Groupe Lactalis, which sought the annulment of a governmental decree requiring the labelling of the French, European or non-European origin of milk and milk used as an ingredient in pre-packaged foods.

Read the article here

Italy has announced plans to bring in mandatory origin labelling for tomato-based products, bypassing EU procedures and sparking fears for the unity of Europe's single market.

The move comes just weeks after Italian authorities unveiled a decree implement a two-year trial for mandatory origin labelling for pasta and rice , requiring manufacturers to indicate the country of origin of the grains used to manufacture processed rice and pasta items on packaging.

Italy also has origin labelling for dairy products.

The move is intended to counter growing competition coming from imports of Chinese tomato puree which, according to Coldiretti, the association that represents the Italian agricultural sector, increased by 43% in 2016.

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