UFC-Que Choisir wants to impose “original information” on producers

For 7 out of 10 prepared dishes, the origin of the ingredients is unclear

The UFC-Que Choisir Association has highlighted an alarming reality weighing on the food industry: Out of 243 prepared meals commonly available in the market, consisting of 484 main ingredients (beef, pork, poultry, grains, vegetables, etc.), the origin of 69% of these ingredients remains unclear.. In detail, for For almost half of them (47%), the mention on the packaging does not indicate a specific origin, and for 22%, it is designated by general terms such as “EU origin” or “non-EU”. ” Regarding products based on vegetables or grains, in 84% of cases the exact origin of their ingredients is unknown, this also relates to more than half of dishes based on poultry (64%) and almost one in four dishes made from pork (32% for beef). .In other words, consumers have little or no visibility into the products they use.

Faced with this apparent lack of transparency from agri-food producers, UFC-Que Choisir is asking the government to make the “origin-info” logo mandatory on all their packaging. The association points out that, by its simple presence, this logo will be a guarantee of transparency that will allow consumers to make informed decisions based on reliable and verifiable information, before purchasing such products.

Original information may be useless…

The implementation of the “Origin-Info” logo, formerly known as the Origin Score, was initiated by Delegate Olivia Gregor, Minister in charge of SMEs, Tourism and Consumption, following a protest by disgruntled farmers in early 2024. After a meeting held on March 13, 2024, bringing together manufacturers, distributors and consumer associations, the latter agreed Introduce the final logo by May 2024, followed by an experiment phase during the summer of 2024 before widespread adoption.

Since 9 out of 10 French people want to be better informed about the origin of the products they consume, their reception of “origin-information” seems more favorable. small problem, Its inclusion on packaging by manufacturers is voluntary! ” Ambiguity is not the reason, as some manufacturers claim that there is inevitable variability in the origin of ingredients, but to provide specific policies for each brand. », aptly reminiscent of the UFC-Que Choisir association. Therefore, if the logo remains voluntary, it will have no effect. This unfortunately – so far – does not seem clear to the Minister…