Jan 30, 2008, 13:42 GMT
Brussels - Food sold in the EU should be clearly marked with the amount of fat, sugar and salt it contains, the European Commission proposed Wednesday as part of an attempt to rein in soaring obesity rates.
'We have already started convincing consumers to be more careful as to what they consume, (but) they have to be able to make the right choice ... They have to be able to have the right information to plan their diet,' EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.
Under the proposals, which are aimed at updating and streamlining current rules, foods sold in the EU will have to indicate the amount of energy (calories or joules), fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars and salt prominently on the front of their packaging.
'We want an informed consumer. We don't want to make decisions for the consumer, otherwise we would end up publishing the menu of the day and telling people what to eat every day,' Kyprianou said.
Mixtures of alcohol and fruit juice - the so-called 'alco-pops' - will also be included in the proposals. However, wine, spirits and beer are to be the subject of a separate study to decide what labelling would be appropriate.
The proposals are also intended to clarify the EU's current rules on how the origin of a product should be defined if it contains ingredients from more than one country.
And they strengthen the labelling of foods that contain substances which could produce allergic reactions, such as peanuts.
The initiative is primarily aimed at combating obesity levels, especially among young people.
Around 22 million children in the EU are thought to be overweight or clinically obese, out of a total of some 80 million children under the age of 14 in the EU, and the number is growing by some 400,000 a year, according to official figures.
However, it is also aimed at helping people with other health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, Kyprianou said.
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