What is meant by vegetarian and vegan food? The answer is simple, but in the absence of unified rules at the EU level there is a risk of chaos. And the European Commission, once again, shirks its duties. Another bluff, after the one about the unsolved trouble of food fraud.
Vegetarian and vegan, the definitions you need
The ‘Food Information to Consumers‘ regulation delegated the Commission to define–by an implementing act–the concepts of vegetarian and vegan food. (1)
Definitions have already been prepared by the European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and shared by both consumer associations and the confederation of food industries in Europe. (2)
Why are definitions indispensable? So that thanks to clear and unambiguous concepts all operators who intend to offer vegetarian and vegan foods can become aware of the criteria to be applied. (3) Taking precise responsibilities, to consumers and competitors. (4)
And it is only on the basis of identical rules that the guidelines to be applied to the various sectors (agriculture, processing, logistics and distribution, and administration) can be defined. Guidelines also essential to ensure transparent information.
Q&A, the bluff
All the European Commission should do is transpose the definitions of vegetarian and vegan food on which there is unanimous agreement. In an act that is not coincidentally referred to as an ‘enforcement’ act. That is, having consulted stakeholders (5) and member state representations, all of whom agree, execute the ‘copy and paste’ of the document prepared by the European Vegetarian Union.
Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis (pictured above) has been urged several times to move in this direction. Not only by the social partners concerned but also by the Council in June 2017 and the European Parliament on repeated occasions. (6)
Until a couple of weeks ago, the Lithuanian Commissioner had merely replied that the ‘vegetarian and vegan’ issue was outside his priorities. Nothing to be surprised by the stone guest at every emergency meeting on food security in Europe. (7)
The final straw, however, is the bluff of the last few days, namely the promise that work on definitions of vegetarian and vegan ‘will begin in 2019.’ (8) But how, two years from now, a little copy-paste job that can be completed in a week to say the least! More importantly, how does the current Commission, which will expire in 2019, make political commitments on behalf of the one that will follow it?
Another bluff, indeed.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) See reg. EU 1169/11, Article 36.3
(2) Food Drink Europe
(3) Take the example of cheese. How many practitioners know that cheese is in rare cases vegetarian?
(4) In such a lucrative and growing segment, the risk of food fraud is greater than elsewhere. But until the rules are defined in detail, it will be impossible to crack down on much of the fraud
(5) Stakeholders are the relevant social partners, i.e., the European representations of the various actors in the supply chain. Agriculture (Copa-Cogeca), food industry(Food Drink Europe), artisans and SMEs (UEAPME), consumers (BEUC)
(6) Also related to the issue of so-called.
Meat sounding
(7) The writer has humbly stated for some time that it is necessary to remove Andriukaitis from office, for several reasons including:
– the serious omission of official acts, for failing to manage the risk of cancer and DNA damage in children reported by Efsa on 3.6.16 in relation to palm oil,
– The two-month delay in handling the Fipronil crisis,
– The wilful delay in enforcing EU rules on the origin of the primary ingredient
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.