|
The Scotch
Whisky industry has welcomed the
European Commission's invitation on
whisky labelling.
The European Commission has adopted a
report on the mandatory labelling of the
list of ingredients and the nutrition
declaration for alcoholic beverages.
Following the conclusions of the report,
the Commission has decided to invite the
alcoholic beverages' industry to
develop, within a year, a
self-regulatory proposal aiming to
provide information on ingredients and
nutrition of all alcoholic beverages.
Commissioner for Health and Food
Safety,Vytenis Andriukaitis said: "This
report supports the right of people in
the European Union to be fully informed
about what they drink. Moreover, it does
not identify any objective grounds
justifying the absence of the list of
ingredients and nutrition information on
alcoholic beverages. The expansion of
voluntary initiatives from the sector
has already been ongoing and is brought
to the fore in the report".
The Scotch Whisky Association has
welcomed the European Commission's
invitation to the alcoholic beverages'
industry to develop, within a year, a
self-regulatory proposal aiming to
provide information on ingredients and
nutrition information of all alcoholic
beverages.
The Scotch Whisky Association said it
will study the European Commission's
proposals on the labelling of alcoholic
beverages and consult with its members.
The SWA also said that
the Scotch Whisky industry supports
providing consumers with relevant and
useful information. There is a
commitment to providing calorie
information to consumers, but this must
be done in a meaningful way.
Julie Hesketh-Laird, Scotch Whisky
Association acting chief executive,
said: "The SWA welcomes the Commission's
invitation for the alcoholic drinks
industry to set out a self-regulatory
way forward. We believe that Scotch
Whisky should be consumed in a
responsible manner, as part of a
balanced diet. It is right that
consumers have the information they need
to make choices that fit with a healthy
lifestyle, including calorie intake. The
Scotch Whisky industry is therefore
happy to provide meaningful information
in a format that is simple to understand
and linked with actual serving sizes,
supporting consumer choice."
I do wonder if the use of E150a caramel
colouring will now have to be declared
on the label in all countries in Europe
and not just countries like Germany.
|
