Breakfast foods: More precise information benefits consumer confidence

In a modern version of the traditional saying that we are what we eat, we might as well add that being what we eat also means knowing what we eat. Because today, consumers want to be kept informed about what ends up on their breakfast table and whether the foodstuffs meet their expectations in terms of composition, sustainability, preparation method, that includes knowing where a food was made or where the ingredients come from.

To meet consumer’s demand for more transparency about the content of the food in their breakfast basket, Renew Europe supports the revision of a set of legislative acts providing rules on the composition, sales name, labelling and presentation of certain breakfast foods, such as marmalade, honey and juices.

Renew Europe believes that aligning these so-called Breakfast directives to evolved nutritional standards while providing consumers with precise information about the content of the purchased food and clear rules for indication of origin and purity are key to protect consumer’s interests. By providing clear information on the labels of jam, honey and fruit juices, consumers will have more information and know better what to choose from on the store shelves.

MEP Pascal Canfin (L’Europe Ensemble, France) and Renew shadow rapporteur on the file said: “To enable consumers to choose their fruit juices, jams and honeys according to their origin and nutritional quality, we have just adopted a new text today. Nearly half of the honey imported in Europe is fake for example because they are water-cut in third countries with less stringent quality standards and controls. The new rules will prevent such false honeys from entering the EU market. This will also put an end to unfair competition with our beekeepers who abide by high EU production standards and it will allow consumers to make better informed choices about the origin and content of foods they want to buy.”