Public hearing in the European Parliament on “The Provision of Food Information to Consumers
A Public hearing on “The Provision of Food Information to Consumers, organised by MEP Renate Sommer (EPP-ED, DE) will be held today in the European Parliament in Brussels.
Eurocare is pleased that the European Commission draft directive 2008/028 is taking into account consumers’ needs for information regarding mixed alcoholic beverages (alcopops). However Mariann Skar, Secretary General of Eurocare, regrets the decision not to include all alcoholic beverages “this, in our view, is a missed opportunity to adopt a comprehensive approach to labeling and will not benefit the European consumers. Furthermore, this is not in line with the Commission’s obligation to seek to improve the coherence between policies that have an impact on alcohol related harm stated in the EU Alcohol Strategy”.
EUROCARE believes consumers have a right to know what ingredients are contained in all alcoholic beverages as well as their nutritional value. Alcoholic products should also contain information on the total grams of alcohol in the can/bottle and not just on its alcohol concentration (% by volume) as this is difficult to understand for the average consumer.
EUROCARE furthermore regrets that the draft directive does not contain an obligation for alcoholic beverages to carry health warning messages. This is a missed opportunity for a more comprehensive approach to the reduction of alcohol related harm in Europe.
Eurocare believes labelling should be part of an integrated strategy to provide information and educate consumers about alcohol and should be part of comprehensive policies and programmes to reduce the harm done by alcohol.
As stated in the EU Alcohol Strategy launched in October 2006 “Citizens have the right to obtain relevant information on the health impact, and in particular on the risks and consequences related to harmful and hazardous consumption of alcohol, and to obtain more detailed information on added ingredients that may be harmful to the health of certain groups of consumers.”
