June 23, 2010

European Union (EU) legislators recently voted on a mandatory food labeling system, intended to help combat obesity in Europe, and country-of-origin labeling for certain products.

The system, known as Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) - which expresses nutritional content as a percentage of recommended daily amounts - would be required on the front of packages. The current GDA system is already used by most major food companies to show the amount of calories, sugar, fat, saturated fats, and salt in a food or beverage. Under the expanded rules, the GDAs would also show the amount of protein, unsaturated fats, and fiber. 

Members of the European Parliament (MEP) also approved a requirement for country-of-origin labels on meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and meat and fish products used in processed food.

Britain's food labeling system, which uses red, amber, and green "traffic light" symbols to indicate levels of sugar, salt, and fat in some packaged foods, was rejected by the 400 MEPs.

The labeling rules are not expected to be finalized until 2012. Companies would then have at least three years to implement the food labeling requirements.

Full article. (Reuters)

Guideline Daily Amounts website.