EU Votes to Standardise Food Labels

The European Parliament has voted for new packaging regulations to harmonise food labelling across the European Union, but have rejected the “traffic light” colour coding of foods.

Under the plan, food manufacturers are required to put labelling on the front of product packaging that lists the number of calories and guideline daily amounts of sugar, salt, fat and saturated fat they contain.

European MPs have also agreed to include information about protein, fibre and trans-fat content elsewhere on the packaging.

The rule will also require labels to display the country of origin for food such as meat, poultry, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables.

Meat packaging will have to display a three-step label, detailing the animal’s country of birth, upbringing, and slaughter.

EU members, however, rejected the “traffic light” proposal that would apply red, amber, and green colours to food labels based on their sugar, salt and fat content.