UK pressure group backs labelling amendment

A UK pressure group against the use of processing aids in bread production is backing an amendment to EU regulation that will require foods frozen, and then defrosted before sale, to be labelled ‘defrosted’.

The proposed revision to the EU Food Information Regulation (FIR), announced last month, will enable greater transparency over the marketing of par baked loaves in particular, said the Real Bread Campaign, an initiative of Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming.

The advocates, who are seeking tax breaks for producers making bread without processing aids, argue that labels such as ‘freshly baked’ or ‘baked in store’ are potentially misleading for consumers when referring to part-baked products packed in an inert atmosphere or frozen off-site and then ‘baked off’ at in-store bakeries.

The amendment, should it be carried, would represent a significant change to existing EU labelling laws (Directive 2000/13/EC) where you only label goods as ‘defrosted’ (chicken, for instance) when it is believed the absence of such a designation could potentially mislead the consumer.