The Farm to Fork Strategy of the EU Commission, published this week after a delay of 2 months, includes:
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A proposal for harmonised mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling to enable consumers to make health conscious food choices
A proposal to require origin indication for certain products
Nutrient profiles to restrict the use of nutrition and health claims on food that is high in salt, sugar and/or fat
Initiatives to stimulate reformulation of p rocessed food, including the setting of maximum levels for certain nutrient
A revised EU legislation on Food Contact Materials t o improve food safety, ensure consumers‘ health and reduce the environmental footprint of the sector
A proposal for a sus tainable food labelling framework to empower consumers to make sustainable food choices.
The strategy sets concrete targets to reach by 2030, including a 50% cut in the use of pesticides, a 20% cut in the use of fertilizers, a 50% reduction in sales of antimicrobials used for farmed animals and aquaculture, and a target to increase the size of EU’s agricultural land dedicated to organic farming to at least 25%.
In terms of food waste, the Commission is considering options to simplify date marking on foodstuffs and to promote better understanding and use of date marking among manufactures and consumers.
The Farm to Fork Strategy is part of the European Green Deal that aims at making economy carbon-free until 2050.
