Rusprodsoyuz considers mandatory color marking of food products in the Russian Federation unnecessary

Proposals for the introduction of labeling of food products "Svetofor" are not sufficiently developed, such a measure itself is unnecessary, it can even confuse consumers, said Dmitry Leonov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Association of Producers and Suppliers of Food Products ("Rusprodsoyuz").

Labeling of food products and drinks "Traffic light" involves a color indication printed on the packaging - green, yellow and red, depending on the level of SALT, SUGAR and fatty acids, and taking into account the daily intake of these substances. The project of such voluntary labeling started on June 1, 2018. The initiator was Rospotrebnadzor. The newspaper Izvestia reported on Wednesday that the public council under Rospotrebnadzor proposed making such labeling mandatory.

“... we do not support another novel with the introduction of the “Traffic Light” marking and consider it unnecessary. We also consider the initiative to be insufficiently developed. There are a lot of contradictions and a number of unresolved issues in proposals of this kind,” Leonov said.

Among them, firstly, the ambiguity of the methodology for determining the harmfulness or usefulness of a product, and secondly, now, thanks to food ingredients, the shelf life of goods can be longer, allowing them to reduce write-offs. “In the ongoing trend of urbanization and the growth of megacities, such properties of goods are in demand and often make it possible to offer food products at lower prices,” Leonov noted.

In addition, it is not entirely clear what methodology will be used in determining the labeling, he continued, may raise questions about the correctness of product research for the content of fat, salt or sugar in it: there are no normatively approved criteria in this regard, and the consumption rates themselves are often very individual. .

In RUSSIA, they want to make mandatory "traffic light" labeling of products 

Leonov also admitted that the introduction of color coding could confuse consumers, since retail chains already use color coding on price tags: for example, they are red, white, yellow and green. Meanwhile, the norms of the legislation already provide for the placement of full information about the product and restrictions on its use on the label. The experiment on voluntary labeling had no effect, the source added.