The journey towards harmonized front-of-pack labelling

FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretary Tom Heilandt was invited to intervene at an event organized by the European Food Forum under the title “The journey towards a harmonized front-of-pack labelling and its impact on sustainable food labelling”.

The European Food Forum is an independent, non-partisan body founded by Members of the European Parliament that aims to promote open dialogue on sustainable food systems.

Heilandt underscored the essential role of food labelling in empowering consumers to make healthy dietary choices. Speaking about visible, not misleading and easy-to-understand front-of-pack labelling (FoP), the Codex Chair said that these "can help to nudge consumers in the right direction, but then there is a need to educate consumers, making them care about the food they consume", because health is a whole and FoP needs to be perceived as a mix of contents, including nutrition and health. He stated that regulators had a big responsibility and harmonization was a task of paramount importance. Noting that “front-of-pack labelling should align with evidence-based dietary guidance,” Heilandt stated that it should give more consideration to nutrients and food groups, and should also indicate in what quantities these are contained.

The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius is comprised of 189 Members, including the European Union. It sets international food standards to protect consumer health and provides guidance on the compositional requirements of food so that it is nutritionally safe. Through its guidance on food labelling, Codex Alimentarius helps to ensure that consumers understand what they are buying.

You can read more about the work of Codex Alimentarius here.