For more than two thirds of the ingredients making up processed food products, boxed sandwiches or ravioli for example, agro-industrial manufacturers provide little information on the origin, according to a survey by UFC-Que Choisir, which calls on Thursday March 28 to make an origin indicator obligatory.
“For 69% of the ingredients we examined, opacity reigns on their origin”denounces the consumer association, which dissected 243 processed foods from major brands: canned foods, prepared meals, salads, sandwiches, ham, cold meats, etc. According to it, 47% of the ingredients “have no origin mentioned”and 22% a “purely generic origin with vague mentions”as “EU or non-EU origin”.
The lack of information is most marked for cereals and vegetables
According to the association, which focused on ingredients that represent a significant portion of the finished food, “it is for cereals and vegetables, a food category that has never been subject to a labeling obligation, that the lack of information is most marked” : 84% of the products examined do not bear any specific mention of the origin of their ingredients. This is followed by poultry (64%), pork (38%) and beef (32%).
The UFC-Que Choisir, which scanned a total of products from fourteen major national brands and distributors, notes that the opacity “is not due, as some manufacturers claim, to an inevitable variability in the origins of ingredients but rather to supply policies specific to each brand”.
“The future display will have no effect if it remains voluntary”
The Marie brand, for example, is able to specify the origin for “more than 8 out of 10 ingredients for prepared dishes” of the sample, when Fleury Michon only does so for less than 20% of the ingredients. Another example : “Bonduelle communicates the precise origin of 7 out of 10 vegetables, Cassegrain only does so for almost 1 out of 10 vegetables.”
The government announced at the end of February that it wanted to create an indicator of origin of food products, which will be called “Origine-Info”, and for which specifications must be determined by 1er may. It must be done on a voluntary basis, in order to remain, according to Bercy, within the framework of European law.
For the UFC-What to choose, “the future display will have no effect if it remains voluntary”. The association ensures that the European regulation on food labeling makes it possible to “make Origin-Info mandatory”. She also calls for displaying the origin of ingredients to also concern out-of-home catering, particularly large chains.