An audit report has found that European consumers face confusing and misleading food labelling, including issues surrounding allergen information and best-before dates.
The European Court of Auditors said labeling should help people make informed decisions when buying food. However, consumers are exposed to a growing number of claims, logos, slogans, labels and scores.
“Rather than providing clarity, food labels all too often cause confusion; there are hundreds of different schemes, logos and claims that people have to decipher,” said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the audit.
The audit covered labels between 2011 and 2023. Auditors met with the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and interviewed authorities in Belgium, Italy and Lithuania.
Information about allergens and shelf life challenges
Regulations require that allergens be highlighted in the ingredients list. However, people with food allergies may encounter overly cautious labeling and vague statements such as “may contain.” A lack of harmonized rules at EU level limits their choice. Companies may use the wording “may contain” to play it safe, and the use of this statement is not always based on risk assessments that quantify the presence of allergens. Implementing acts on preventive labeling of allergens have not yet been adopted by the European Commission.
The confusion is further compounded by the increasing number of voluntary labels, logos and claims used to attract consumers. These include ‘clean’ labels about the absence of certain elements such as (for example ‘antibiotic-free’) and non-certified properties such as ‘fresh’ and ‘natural’.
The EU has allocated only around €5.5 million ($5.77 million) to food labeling awareness campaigns between 2021 and 2025, and consumer campaigns by member states are sporadic. For example, although mandatory, date marking is poorly understood, with people confused by the meaning of ‘use by’ and ‘best before’.
Companies can also take advantage of weaknesses in controls and sanctions. For example, websites outside the EU are virtually impossible to check for online food sales. Regarding infringements, the EU auditors concluded that fines are not always dissuasive, effective or proportionate.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, all three Member States visited have seen an increase in e-commerce food sales and an increasing number of complaints about online stores. Information about such products may be misleading and their consumption may even be unsafe.
Share information with the public
Auditors found that control systems in Member States are sometimes complex and often involve multiple authorities, which can lead to shortcomings in supervision, reporting and sanctions.
The European Commission makes some information notified by Member States available to the public through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) portal, but not details that identify a product, such as the name or the companies involved. For example, during a recall campaign, a consumer could not find the product name on the portal. Instead, this information could be available in shops or through national authorities’ information channels.
“This makes it difficult for consumers to use the portal to learn about food safety issues and change their purchasing behavior accordingly,” auditors said.
Auditors recommended that when updating the RASFF, the European Commission should improve data quality and increase information sharing on food labeling issues with the public.
“What’s worst about the ECA report: rather than a lack of competence, it underlines the lack of political will in the EU institutions to defend the rights of 450 million EU consumers rather than the interests of a powerful industry . Food labels are often small in size. Yet they are of great importance: they determine the eating habits of millions of people and therefore have a huge impact on the health of European consumers,” says Suzy Sumner, head of the Brussels office of Foodwatch International.
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