Nutrition and health
Greece backtracks on ‘ineffective’ excise tax on wine
The Greek government will soon table an amendment to abolish excise duty on wine as it has not brought the desired financial results, Greek Minister for Agricultural Development and Food Evangelos Apostolou said.
Manufacturers to withdraw soft drinks from EU schools from 2018
Europe’s soft drinks industry has announced it will stop selling sugary beverages in all schools in the European Union from late 2018. Health campaigners have welcomed the move but said more needs to be done to promote healthy eating in schools.
Rainfall and thefts put Greek mastiha production at risk
Unexpected summer rainfall, combined with a growing number of thefts, is jeopardising the production of the main ingredient of Greece's famous Mastiha liqueur both in quality and quantity.
Fipronil crisis: Why should we keep on using these toxic substances?
The withdrawal of millions of eggs from the market produced in the Netherlands and Belgium should motivate the EU to shift towards a different model of agriculture, argues Martin Dermine.
EU health chief says all alcoholic beverages should be labelled
The European Commission wants the industry's expected alcohol labelling self-regulatory proposal to cover all alcoholic beverages in order to avoid confusion among consumers.
‘Zero calories’: Industry moving to reduce sugar in EU beverages
The European soft drink industry has long been involved in a gradual process of removing added sugar from its products and introducing “zero calories” varieties on the market. EURACTIV Spain reports.
Conflict heightens food insecurity in DRC
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 7.7 million people are hungry, a +30% rise in one year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). EURACTIV France reports.
Commission calls meeting on egg crisis to end member states ‘blaming and shaming’
The European Commission will call an emergency meeting of ministers over insecticide-tainted eggs in a bid to end "blaming and shaming" over the scandal, health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said on Friday (11 August).
Contaminated eggs: Arrests made as scandal spreads East
Luxembourg became the latest European country hit by a scare over tainted eggs, with a major supermarket chain pulling them from the shelves and other firms affected, authorities said on Thursday (10 August).
Dutch and Germans ‘massively’ get rid of contaminated eggs
Supermarkets in the Netherlands and Germany massively withdrew batches of eggs from their shelves on Thursday (3 August) amid fears that they contained high quantities of fipronil, a toxic insecticide which is dangerous for humans.
Dutch egg scandal puts consumer health at risk
Hundreds of thousands of Dutch eggs have been declared unsuitable for consumption as they contained high quantities of fipronil, an insecticide toxic to humans.
Mediterranean diet is for the rich and educated, study claims
The Mediterranean diet is beneficial for health and reduces cardiovascular risk, but applies only to people who have higher income and educational level, a new study has claimed.
Commission merges healthy food schemes at school to cut red tape
The European Commission announced on Tuesday (1 August) that it would merge the milk and fruit and vegetables schemes currently provided separately to schoolchildren across Europe.
EU adopts first restrictions on cancer-causing acrylamide in food
Representatives of the EU’s 28 member states voted yesterday (19 July) in favour of a European Commission proposal to reduce the presence in food of acrylamide, a known carcinogenic substance present in fries, crisps, bread, biscuits, or coffee.
Save our fries! Belgians say EU spares national dish
Belgium's national dish, the deep fried potato sticks that much of the English-speaking world gallingly calls "French fries", has been saved.
Nestlé boss: Simplified food labels will better inform consumers
Simplified food label schemes like the UK-style traffic light will provide EU consumers clear and simple elements and therefore, better inform them, Marco Settembri told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Industry asks the Commission to harmonise sports food rules
Four sports foods trade associations launched a joint initiative on Monday (26 June) calling on the European Commission to amend EU food legislation and come up with harmonised rules to regulate their products and ensure their proper use and equal treatment in all member states.
Soft drink makers back product reformulation as ‘healthier’ than taxation
Governments can steer consumers towards healthier choices by supporting the reformulation of food ingredients, rather than imposing "discriminatory" taxes, according to the soft drinks industry.
‘Traffic light’ food labels gain momentum across Europe
A UK scheme that labels pre-packed food in red, amber or green according to their level of healthiness was rejected by Mediterranean countries at EU level but is slowly gaining momentum across Europe.
Weighing the tradeoffs of joy versus long term health
Consumers make hundreds of choices every day, some of which imply weighing the tradeoffs of joy versus long term health. These are highly subjective decisions, and in a free society adult consumers should have the right to make these choices and not have them dictated to them by public health tsars, writes Fred Roeder.
Regulating consumers?
Over the years, sales and marketing restrictions have piled up on food, drinks and alcohol products. Some are now beginning to worry about a “slippery slope” where tobacco-style regulations – and taxation – are being applied to a whole range of consumer products in the name of public health objectives.
Burden faced by Africa’s small farmers masked by focus on migration and poverty
Some 70% of the world’s food is grown by smallholder farmers, the majority in the developing world, who will have to help output double by 2030 to keep up with population growth, a panel of experts at the European Development Days in Brussels heard on Thursday (8 June).
Andriukaitis heats up glyphosate discussion with ‘science’ comments
In light of heavy criticism by the EU socialists in the revived glyphosate debate, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis told EURACTIV.com that political opinions cannot outweigh broadly-agreed scientific opinions.
Germany’s cheap food prices come at a cost, study finds
Germans love to do their food shopping at discount retailers. But the costs incurred in order to provide such cheap prices are enormous and society is paying through the nose for it. EURACTIV Germany reports.