Our latest edition of EU news looks at a ‘worrying decline of food controls’ among member states, calls to ban controversial ingredient E171 and the practice of CO2 stunning of pigs, while a Lithuanian beer’s ‘original and exceptional characteristics’ are lauded.
Our latest edition of EU news looks at a ‘worrying decline of food controls’ among member states, calls to ban controversial ingredient E171 and the practice of CO2 stunning of pigs, while a Lithuanian beer’s ‘original and exceptional characteristics’ are lauded.
The number of food controls and the resources allocated to them are dwindling across Europe, according to a report by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC).
All member states are required by law to report on their inspection activities every year. But BEUC, after analysing data on official food controls from 12 countries, concluded:
- With some rare exceptions, human and financial resources for food controls are decreasing across the EU, as are the number of checks;
- Some control staff have flagged that they lack the necessary resources to carry out their duties;
- Controls of the foods most likely to cause poisoning – such as eggs, milk and meat – are decreasing;
- Member States’ patchy reporting makes comparisons difficult, if not impossible;
- Member States give low to no priority to labelling checks;
Few countries choose to publish the results of inspections of individual operators and to inform consumers about hygiene standards in restaurants and food shops.
Monique Goyens, director general of BEUC, commented: “Our report shows that national governments are regrettably cutting corners when it comes to checking the vital resources that are our food. Even products prone to causing food poisoning – such as meat, eggs and dairy – are subjected to fewer and fewer controls. Several scandals have recently hit the headlines, including tainted baby milk and eggs as well as meat unfit for human consumption. Consumers then legitimately wonder whether governments are effectively ensuring that businesses play by the rules – and whether they have the means to do so. Consumer mistrust in food products ultimately harms businesses and the economy as a whole.”
Image: GettyImages/zimmytws
Eurogroup for Animals and its 69 member organisations are calling on the European Commission to revise the Slaughter Regulation to prohibit the use of high-concentration CO2 as a stunning or killing method for pigs from 1 January 2025, with a review in 2023 to verify the availability of commercially viable non-aversive alternatives
The welfare group claims that high concentration CO2 stunning causes pain and distress in pigs from first exposure to the gas to loss of consciousness, which can take up a minute to occur.
“The European Commission, the EU Member States and the pig industry must invest the necessary funding, energy and commitment to developing one or more alternative stunning methods that either induce instantaneous unconsciousness or, if the process is gradual, are not distressing to the animals,” said Elena Nalon, senior veterinary adviser for farmed animals at Eurogroup for Animals.
In a newly released position paper, the organisations are calling for investments from the industry and national and EU decision makers to find a painless alternative to the practice, which is used in the majority of large EU pig slaughterhouses as it allows for faster operations and more uniform meat quality. By way of an example, Spain, Germany and Denmark, which rank among the top five EU countries for pig production, slaughter between 85 and 95% of pigs with CO2 – which translates into more than 100 million pigs per year.
Image: GettyImages-chayakorn lotongkum
A new report highlights the need for greater collaboration between EU institutions and members states to tackle the growing problem of destructive fires across the bloc, which are causing farmland to burn.
According to the report, wildfires destroyed nearly 178,000 hectares (ha) of forests and land in the EU last year. While this is less than one sixth of the area burnt in 2017, and less than the long-term average, more countries than ever before suffered from large fires.
The highest numbers of fires of 30 ha or larger were mapped by the European Forest Fire Information System in Italy (147 fires, 14,649 ha burned), Spain (104 fires, 12,793 ha burned), Portugal (86 fires, 37,357 ha burned), the UK (79 fires, 18 032 ha burned) and Sweden (74 fires, 21,605 ha burned) during last year.
Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, responsible for the Joint Research Centre, said: “We need to respond and step up our efforts to make our forests more resilient to a warmer and drier climate. Evidence provided by the Joint Research Centre allows us to focus on the most effective ways to prevent wildfires, helping us protect our forests, which is key to preserve biodiversity and citizens' quality of life."
Image: GettyImages/pong2519
The European Parliament has blocked a move by the European Commission to cut the use of pesticides that harm bees. The Commission was seeking to revise legislation to weaken EU rules protecting bee colonies from toxic pesticides.
But MEPs blocked the legislation, saying it ignored the risk to bee larvae from long-term exposure to chemicals, known as chronic toxicity.
The MEPS favour a guidance document (pdf) produced by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2013 that aims to cut the use of pesticides that harm bees.
Image: GettyImages/Filip_Krstic
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said the fall, from 294 mhl in 2018, merely brought production back to around average after exceptionally large output in 2018.
France and Italy, the two largest producers in the European Union, recorded 15% falls in production and Spain suffered a 24% drop. Production in all three countries was below their five-year average, the OIV said.
“This can be explained mainly by aleatory weather conditions, notably a very cold and rainy spring followed by an extremely hot and dry summer,” it said.
Production in the 28-nation EU — which accounts for about 60% of global wine output — was 156.0 mhl, or 26.7 mhl below last year. France, Italy and Spain account for 80 percent of the total EU output.
Image: GettyImages/Praiwan Wasanruk
The European Commission has given Lithuanian beer ‘Kaimiškas Jovarų alus’ Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status.
‘Kaimiškas Jovarų alus’ is an amber-coloured, naturally fermented, live (unpasteurised and unfiltered), barley malt beer. Its entire production process is carried out within a household using a traditional method.
The EC said the beer’s ‘original and exceptional characteristics’ are the result of a traditional production method acquired by generations of brewers using traditional recipes and the ingredients.
The different stages of producing ‘Kaimiškas Jovarų alus’ – grinding the malt, boiling the hops, mashing and lautering, fermenting and maturing the beer – are what makes it unique, it added. The beer’s characteristic taste and quality is also determined by the yeast it contains, which has been kept by several generations of family brewers.
This new name will be added to the list of 1,450 products already protected.
Image: GettyImages/Ridofranz
A petition calling on a ban on contentious ingredient titanium dioxide (E171) in food across the EU has received more than 73,000 signatures in less than a week.
Consumer groups Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE) and Agir pour l’Environment and European Environmental Citizens’ Organisation for Standardisation (ECOS), which launched the petition, hope the campaign can garner enough support to add weight to their case.
The groups will use the petition to put pressure on decision makers and officials at the EU Commission and European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) and national representatives who are expected to hold meetings in the coming months to review E171.
“The more signatures we get in the future, the better EU consumers will be protected,” a SAFE spokesperson told FoodNavigator.
E171 is used as a white colorant in over 900 food items from chocolate, chewing gum and mayonnaise. It has been an authorised food additive in Europe since 1969. It has gone through several re-evaluations by the EFSA (in 2004, 2016, 2018 and 2019).
While the EFSA and US Food and Drug Administration authorise the ingredient, E171 has come under intense scrutiny because of studies linking it to negative health effects including damage to the intestinal flora and the development of cancers. Its detractors add that that the colorant serves no nutritional value.
Image: GettyImages-Meowcyber
