These 3 brands mislead consumers about the French origin of their food, but the law will not punish them

A French flag on the packaging does not mean that the product is French. In theory, the law prohibits brands from this abuse. But in practice a legal vacuum allows this.

A tricolor flag, a map of France, a rooster… There are countless symbols and slogans on supermarket shelves that evoke “Made in France”. Brands, especially of food products, proudly display blue-white-red on their items to let customers know they are buying French products. This is especially the case for many packages of pasta, ravioli, nuggets, cordon bleu, cereals, etc.

Well-known brands such as Lustucru, Chokepic and Pere Dodu use these chauvinist symbols for some of their products (tagliatelle, organic cereal, chicken nuggets, Cordon Bleu). But reading the packaging carefully, we realize that the main ingredients are not necessarily French but come from various countries in the European Union. Indeed, on the packaging, the words “EU origin” are written in very small letters. Clearly, only the final process of production is carried out in France.

This practice of symbols such as the tricolor flag, which is intended to unduly Frenchize food products, is however prohibited by French law. In October 2021, a second Iglim law expressly prohibited the display of “the flag of France, the map of France or any other symbol representative of France on food packaging when the primary ingredients (…) are not of French origin”. Such representations are therefore legally considered “misleading”. She could be fined up to 300,000 euros and sentenced to two years in prison.

The problem is, an implementing decree intended to spell out the concrete terms of this ban has never been published by the government. This legal vacuum allows manufacturers to continue multiplying references to national colors, even if their raw materials come from abroad.

Questioned by Médiapart, the Ministry of Economy explains that it has decided not to publish the decree “which would conflict with European rules on food labelling”. The Foodwatch Association condemned “this secret reduction of the measure adopted after a long struggle in the National Assembly”.

In the absence of an applicable prohibition, fraud enforcement officials have their general authority to sanction unfair business practices. They can hardly resist the most blatant abuse. As a result, the shelves are full of references that show the so-called tricolor weapons even though their components come from abroad.

The government has announced that it wants to strengthen controls and transparency on the real origin of food products sold in France. But concrete changes remain, leaving the door open to marketing vagaries. In the meantime, consumers are encouraged to carefully read the fine print on packaging to find out exactly where the ingredients in their purchases come from.