On August 10th, the European Commission announced that new limits will apply for tolerated lead and cadmium levels in food products. These restrictions concern fruits, vegetables, cereals and oilseeds for lead, and infant foods, mushrooms, spices and salt for cadmium. These new rules are set to be respectively introduced on August 30th and 31st and […]
On July 8th, 2021, DG SANTE released its final report on the exposure of children to linear, non-linear and online marketing of foods high in fat, salt or sugar. The goal of this study was to quantify such a marketing exposure in order to develop instruments to address the problem and ultimately fight youth obesity. […]
The partners of the ECO-Empowering Consumer Organisations project were proud to present the achievements of their EU-project on Dual Food Quality during the final European Conference held online on the 29th of June from 10:00 to 13:00 CET. The conference provided a chance to both discuss the many aspects and findings of the project, but also gave a chance […]
In the past few months, organisations have revealed that non-compliant products containing ingredients illegally processed with ethylene oxide were still being sold without proper consumer information. Ethylene oxide is a gaseous disinfectant, originally used for sterilization purposes and for decreasing salmonella occurrence in foods. It is a highly irritating and mutagenic chemical, considered to be […]
On June 25th, 2021, a deal was finally found between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Council on the reform of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The reform, which took 3 years to achieve, outlines how the €387 billion budget is to be spent for the 2021-2027 period. While seeking to […]
On 24 June 2021, European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans gave a speech on the brand new Climate Law in the European Parliament. On this occasion, he praised the legislative process up to this point and called this new EU initiative “the law of laws”, highlighting its binding target of 55% GHG emissions reduction (by […]
On 22 February 2021, 21 NGOs including SAFE called on the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to reject the 171th and 72th Amendment of the European Parliament in the CMO trilogues. Amendment 171 would introduce unnecessary restrictions on the labelling of plant-based dairy products. Amendment 72 would introduce legal uncertainty that […]
The EU food safety agency EFSA will provide scientific opinions to help developing the EU-wide system for front-of-pack nutrition labelling of foodstuffs, including setting conditions for nutrition and health claims on foods. This includes the setting of nutrient profiles to restrict the promotion of food high in, for example, salt, sugars and/or fat. Read SAFE’s […]
The European Commission has taken its first steps towards launching a ‘code of conduct’ for actors along the food chain, as part of its aim to increase the sustainability of the food system. This sustainable code of conduct was much awaited since the publication of the Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal. […]
In a recently published decision, the EU Ombudsman has raised concerns regarding the current procedure for the approval of active substances in pesticides by the Commission. The procedure is criticised for two main issues. First, the Ombudsman questions the Commission’s practice of approving active substances which had been identified either no safe use or critical […]