EU: Food Company Speaks Out

Stefano Meloni, chairman of the Franco-Italian food production company Eridania Beghin-Say, has called on the EU rapidly to clarify its policies on the labelling of foods containing genetically modified organisms, in order not to alarm the public. “We believe that we cannot remain in the current grey zone, where each European country will take its own decision – often at odds with the others – while there is demand, notably from consumers, for reliable and clear information,” he said in an interview with the newspaper La Tribune on 2 February. The EU has agreed that foods containing such products must be labelled as containing them, but so far the EU’s experts have failed to agree on the nature, form, and content of such labels. The EP Environment Committee has described as “profoundly muddled” the state of EU food law in this increasingly important area. Any new regulations within the EU are likely to be discussed next at a meeting of internal market ministers on 30 March.