Stricter regulations in the candy industry are coming; packaging labels will continue to be improved

At the annual meeting of the European Confectionery and Biscuits Association (CAOBISCO) held in Brussels a few days ago, confectionery producers such as Mars, Ferrero, Mondelez, Nestlé and representatives of the European Commission discussed the role of the confectionery industry in health issues. The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) said that for confectionery companies, what consumers want is to limit the children's market.

Start by curbing obesity

According to the World Health Organization, in Europe, 1/3 of children are overweight or obese, and their intake of sugar, salt, saturated fatty acids is much higher than dietary recommendations. In other regions, this issue cannot be ignored and must be paid attention to.

Binding on advertising

According to the American Psychological Association, children are influenced by TV commercials to choose unhealthy foods, which is a very critical factor in obesity.

The data shows that children who watch more TV every day consume more total calories, as well as fast food and sugary drinks.

Therefore, BEUC requires confectionery, food and beverage manufacturers to reduce the addition of sugar, salt, and saturated fatty acids, while increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and healthy proteins. For confectionery producers, the first thing to do is to shrink the market.

In 2010, CAOBISCO recommended that member companies be able to join the EU's declaration calling for a ban on advertising to children under 12 years of age. Mars, Ferrero, Mondelez and Nestlé have all announced their compliance with the declaration.

Declaration of accession to the European Union

The EU's declaration has certain limitations. Today's children are still given a lot of information that prompts them to choose unhealthy foods, such as snacks such as candies and cookies with cartoon characters printed on the package.

Advertising by EU declaration member companies accounts for 80% of the EU's food and beverage industry, and BEUC food policy officer Pauline Castres said confectionery producers should reflect on health issues and government departments should also play a role in setting goals.

At present, food companies have voluntarily joined the EU Declaration, and food companies have made improvement policies for the children's market.

Stricter regulations are coming

The UK Advertising Commission (CAP) is currently rolling out a policy to ban ads for high-fat, salt, and sugar foods (HFSS) outright, which is an extension of the current requirements for non-broadcast media, such as online platforms.

Although many member companies have restructured their products, adjusting the size of packaging is still a measure of many large companies.

Control package size

Castres strongly agrees with CAOBISCO's request to reduce the size of candy product packaging, but also points out that the price of small-package food should also be appropriately reduced to make it affordable for consumers, saying, "Small-volume packaging will be more than twice as expensive as other sizes, which low-income families cannot afford." ”

In addition, Castres believes that the size of each serving indicated on the trademark should truly reflect how much consumers are actually eating.

The amount of added sugar will be indicated

The BEUC said that the EU's legislation on "food information provided to consumers (FIC)" means that from December 13, 2016, food companies will be obliged to provide nutritional information on their products.

Such labels will not be a big problem for confectionery companies, and consumers will not be shocked by the sugar in chocolate. Relatively speaking, it may be more impactful for other categories, such as consumers who are often surprised when they see a lot of sugar in muesli that they think is very healthy, or when they see a lot of sugar in a healthy cereal bar.

In the United States, Mars supports labeling of the amount of added sugar, and the National Confectionery Association has also said that the nutrition table of the product needs to be further changed.

BEUC supports the launch of a traffic light signal tag system in the EU. Castres said traffic light signal labels will not only target obesity and will help consumers identify high levels of sugar and saturated fatty acids in products that claim to be healthy.