The labels of our food products could change once the health law is passed. CLCV wants labeling in the form of a color code.
As elsewhere in Europe, obesity is reaching unprecedented levels in France. 15% of adults would be affected. To face this health scourge, the national association for the defense of consumers and users (CLCV) calls for the rapid adoption of new labeling of food products.
The implementation of simplified nutritional information is already provided for in the health law, and voted on at first reading by deputies, then by senators. It remains to be determined how to present this information.
In this regard, the CLCV supports the proposal included in the health law. The idea: to arrange the nutritional data in the form of a five-color scale. This principle should become reality after the final adoption of the law, via an implementing decree.
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In order to produce this five-color tool and make it as efficient and readable as possible, ANSES and the High Council of Public Health worked on it, with the aim of making it compatible with the consumption habits of the French.
Concretely, such a tool should allow consumers to learn about and quickly compare the nutritional quality of the products they want to buy.
Today, this information is present in the form of figures, with an indication of the nutritional values per 100g. A device that is not always very understandable. By replacing it with a color scale, the CLVC hopes consumers will be pushed to make healthier choices.
Problem: manufacturers are reluctant to this labeling, for fear that some of their products will be shunned by consumers because of their low nutritional intake.
On the contrary, the CLVC believes that by adopting it, manufacturers would be showing good will, and would demonstrate their “innovative” character. According to the association, they have a key role in ensuring the implementation of the new labeling system, and in helping consumers to make a balanced choice in terms of food, in the long term.
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