An Italian member of the European Parliament has had a motion to ban certain free-from claims on the grounds they are misleading to consumers rejected.
The amendment, penned by Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello in an annual report last month, was rejected by MEPs. It did not mention specific ingredients but was understood to refer to palm oil or genetically modified ingredients, and said it was intended to protect consumers against misleading or suggestive advertising, it says.
The amendment called on the Commission “to oblige advertisers to declare or list only the characteristics of the ingredients actually present in the product and exclude those that are not contained therein unless the presence or absence of certain ingredients is related to congenital diseases”.
This would allow the use of gluten-free or lactose-free claims. The MEP made the request to the Commission in an amendment to the annual report on competition.
On Martusciello’s website, he wrote: “The events of recent years related to some food products have made it clear that now the large commercial chains tend to promote products by advertising not the ingredients they contain, but those that do not contain.”
Read full, original post: MEP fails to ban ‘free from’ claims
