Originally published September 27 2005
European study shows consumers depend on marketing information for decision making
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Consumers depend on marketing information when making purchases, prompting the European Consumers' Organization (BEUC) to call for stricter regulations on food manufacturers' health and nutrition claims, EurActive reports.
A European level consumer study finds that consumers make choices based on incomplete information and backs the Commission's stand on stricter regulation on health and nutrition claims made on foods.
Review of the European legislation relating to food and nutrition labelling started in July 2003 with the Commission proposal for a regulation on the use of nutrition and health claims made on foods.
At the same time, proposals on nutrition and health claims and the addition of vitamins and minerals to foods are going through the legislative process in the European institutions.
The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC), a federation of independent national consumer organisations defending the interests of European consumers, has conducted a survey into consumers' understanding of nutrition and food labelling.
The survey results argue that most consumers pay more attention to and claim to understand better the marketing claims on the pack ('rich in calcium', 'sodium free', 'fat free', 'light') of the product than the basic nutritional analysis tables show on some packs.
The European Parliament (EP) voted in plenary in May 2005 in favour of deleting the article on 'restrictions on the use of nutrition and health claims' (Article 4 on nutrient profiles).
The EP's amendments showed that the Parliament is against provisions requiring any health claim to be backed up by a 'nutrient profile' containing information on the amounts of, for example, fat, sugar and salt in the product.
For the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) the survey results "underline the need to press ahead with proposed regulation on health and nutrition claims, including prior approval for new claims not previously known or accepted and a ban on the use of health claims on products with high levels of salt, sugar or fat (nutrient profiling)".
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), Will Gilroy: "Advertising industry fully backs the ongoing work on the regulation on nutrition and health claims made on foods.
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