The European Parliament has voted to adopt mandatory labeling guidelines that include country-of-origin labeling on poultry and red meat other than beef and seafood, for which the provenance already is required, the BBC reported.
From here the legislation goes on to the EU’s 27 government ministers for consideration, according to the BBC; new labels could enter the market in three to five years’ time, the report said.
Under consideration are new labeling rules that would indicate the country of origin on all poultry and meat, as well as fish, dairy produce, fruit and vegetables. Meat labels would also indicate exactly where the animal was raised, the BBC reported.
The proposed legislation also may require information on nutritional content, such as amounts of fat, sugar or salt as a percentage of the Guideline Daily Amounts. That information would be posted on the front of the package.
The Parliament decided not to require food labels to sport a red-yellow-green “stoplight” graphic that would rate the products’ nutritional content at a glance. Consumer groups pushed hard for such a graphic, while food producers lobbied hard against it.
Source: Meatingplace.com
Posted by Kaci Switzer
