By Martin Banks - 8th October 2009
There is a danger of information overload
Renate Sommer
Plans for EU-wide legislation on food labelling run the risk of "information overload", a parliamentary debate has heard.
The discussion, held on Thursday and organised by the Parliament Magazine in conjunction with EuroFIR, was told that consumers would react against too much information on food products.
But proponents of the planned new law disagreed, saying the public would be happy to see more information on the nutritional content of the food they buy in shops and supermarkets.
The debate focused on which food labelling system should be adopted.
In particular, it examined a commission regulation on food labelling meant to make it easier for shoppers to make healthy eating choices by providing more information on the calorie, salt, fat ands sugar content of food.
Parliament's rapporteur on the issue, German MEP Renate Sommer, said she will submit a new drat report next year with the vote in the consumer protection committee due in March.
She told the roundtable discussion that while the draft law was well-intentioned there was a "danger of information overload", with consumers being confronted with too much information than they need on the products.
She said, "Yes, consumers want more information but we have to ensure these measures are workable.
"There is a danger of information overload. If that happens, the risk we run is that the public will not bother reading the information provided."
Sommer also said many consumers simply find it impossible to read the often tiny labelling on products.
Her comments were partly echoed by Rosemary Hignett, another keynote speaker at the two-hour event, who said she would support the introduction of laws on minimum font size of labelling.
She added, "People do not need information to know that it is good to eat an apple and that eating chocolate may not be so good.
"However, product information is more necessary on things like ready-made meals," added Hignett, who is head of the food labelling and standards division of the UK Food Standards Agency.
Mathilda Aberg, from the permanent representation of Sweden, current holder of the EU presidency, agreed. "There is a danger of consumers having too much information.
"It is a question of balance. We will try to push this proposal as far as we can during our presidency although the matter will not be decided until next spring during the Spanish presidency."
However, Jo Jewell, a policy officer with the Brussels-based European Public Health Alliance, said his organisation "fully supports" the commission regulation.
He said, "Public demand for more information on food labelling is immense so, yes, this draft is very welcome."
Kate Trollope, a UK-based journalist, disagreed that the public run the risk of getting too much information. "I do not think there is a danger of overload at all," she said.
"The so-called traffic light system has worked well in the UK and consumers like to have as much detail as possible these days about the content of the food they are eating.
"I think information is good as long as it is clear and not misleading."
Further comment came from Geoffrey Thompson, who chairs the Confederation of the Food and Drink industries of the EU.
He said, "We welcome EU harmonisation in relation to food information and believe this is the only means to guarantee the single market while enabling consumers to make informed choices."
Images from the event are available here.
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