Nutrition Health Claim: European Parliament stops misleading information. Renate Sommer MEP

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament has stopped a misleading nutrition claim for foodstuffs proposed by the European Commission. The claim would have been contains 15 percent less sugar/fat/salt. "Such a claim would mislead consumers and producers would only have used it to boost sales", said Renate Sommer MEP, who initiated today's veto in Committee and is the European Parliament Rapporteur on the EU Regulation on food information for consumers.

"Apparently, the Commission has lost track of the actual aim of the Regulation which is to only allow health claims that actually benefit the consumer's health and are not misleading. The 15 percent less claim would rather do the opposite", said Mrs Sommer.

"The new claim contradicts the existing one 'sugar/fat/salt-reduced' where the content of sugar, for example, has to be reduced by at least 30 percent. Most consumers, however, are not aware of this. If the Commission wants to be ever-more lenient, we will have a particular problem with the content of sugar which can be replaced by other types of carbohydrates without having less calories in the end", said the EPP Group MEP.

"If we continue to rubber-stamp almost any producer claim, there will be ever-more claims and consumers will no longer be able to distinguish between foodstuffs", concluded Mrs Sommer