On Tuesday 4 July, CIAA announced to the European Platform for Action on Diet Physical Activity and Health a common Nutrition Labelling Scheme recommended for use by food and drink industries across Europe.

"This labelling recommendation comes as a result of our commitments to the EU Platform to look at how to improve food labels in Europe," said Jean Martin, CIAA President.  He added, �even though this is a voluntary recommendation we hope and expect a critical mass of companies to work rapidly towards adoption of the principles behind this system. Achieving healthier lifestyles will require more than food labelling changes, notably efforts by other stakeholders to promote increased physical activity and broadly-based consumer education. However, with this initiative CIAA is making a substantial contribution to helping people make better informed dietary choices.�

The CIAA recommendation, which includes front-of-pack and back-of-pack nutrition labelling, is based on a uniform list of nutrients, nutrition information per serving and the introduction of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs). A key element of the system is the consistency of the nutrition information that will be provided to consumers across Europe, on the basis of a common framework that will enable them to easily understand the nutritional content of food and drink products.

The CIAA scheme has been developed in line with the requirements of current EU legislation (Directive 90/496/EC). In the context of the �Better Regulation� initiative of the European Commission CIAA reiterates its request to simplify the Directive as part of its upcoming revision.

To read the CIAA Recommendation in full, please click here.