Italy is set to fight a possible EU
food ingredient traffic light system, Farm Minister Maurizio
Martina said after food-industry multinationals including
Coca-Cola, Mars, Mondelez International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and
Unilevercame out in favour of such a system.
"We will write again to the European Commission in the next
few hours to intervene to stop the spread of an element which
would be so market distorting," he told reporters.
Traffic light labels have been mooted showing how much fat,
saturated fats, sugar, and salt are in that food by using the
traffic light signals for high (red), medium (amber) and low
(green) percentages for each of these ingredients.
Last April the European Parliament voted against Britain's
so-called "traffic light" food-labelling scheme.
The parliament approved a motion questioning the
scientific basis of the nutritional profiles at the heart of the
system with 402 votes in favour, 285 against and 22 abstentions.
The system is designed to help consumers make healthy
choices, by labelling food items red, amber or green according
to their fat, salt and sugar contents.
But it has come under fire, including from Italy, which is
concerned about the repercussions it will have on exports, such
as its olive oils, salamis and cheeses.
Critics have said the system creates many paradoxes, such
as having a red label for extra-virgin olive oil, which is
widely acknowledged to have many benefits as part of a balanced
diet, and a green one for diet sodas.
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