French flag on meals merchandise: pledge or advertising and marketing argument? | EUROtoday
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
SAccording to the newest surveys, the French majority agree with paying extra for his or her groceries if they’re positive that this permits farmers to be higher paid. In an Elabe research for BFMTV carried out on the finish of January, 53% of respondents stated they had been in favor. It remains to be essential to make certain that the merchandise bought permit French operators to be correctly remunerated.
However, if we’re to consider the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, the French origin of sure merchandise is much from being so easy to find out. Shortly after Gabriel Attal spoke on Thursday February 1, the tenant of Bercy introduced its need to strengthen controls on using the “Origine France” formulation. He believes that the slogan is “either circumvented”, “or misused” by a “certain number of industrialists to the detriment of our farmers”.
Origin France: “It is unacceptable that this guarantee of quality is abused or circumvented by a certain number of industrialists to the detriment of our farmers”, Bruno Le Maire pronounces greater than 10,000 checks and sanctions of as much as 10% of the determine. 'enterprise pic.twitter.com/w3HEFkA4oC
— LCI (@LCI) February 1, 2024
The explanation for this example lies within the laws in power. For a product to boast the “Origine France” designation, at the least 50% of its main ingredient should have been produced in France. A rule that has existed since fall 2021 and the publication of the Egalim 2 regulation.
If producers or distributors don’t adjust to this laws, they could be sanctioned for “deceptive commercial practices”. According to the Consumer Code, offenders danger as much as two years in jail and a fantastic of 300,000 euros. An quantity which might attain as much as 10% of turnover, relying on the severity.
EU, non-EU… The puzzle of origins
However, present laws solely focuses on the first ingredient. And its definition is framed by the authorities: “The primary ingredient is defined as the ingredient making up 50% or more of the composition of a food or the ingredient(s) which are usually associated with the name of this food by the consumer. » This second point can therefore lead to sometimes counterintuitive situations. Thus, a pot of Bolognese can display the French flag if at least 50% of the tomatoes are French, even if the beef is not French, as noted by BFM Business.
This observation leads to another problem: the lack of precision of the origin when it is not French. In this case, the manufacturer and the distributor prefer to use the term “EU” or “Non-EU”. According to the official EU web site, the nation ought to solely be talked about whether it is “necessary for the consumer (for example, products displaying national flags or famous monuments on their packaging)”.
READ ALSO “To say that manufacturers and supermarkets are “bingeing” is factually false! » The exact origin of beef, however, is compulsory in France. This will not be essentially the case when it’s a part of a processed product. And this, because the expiration of a decree in 2021. A observe which the boss of Lidl, Michel Biero, defends. “When there is a foreign origin, for example on a charcuterie, I will put: Origin (Poland, Germany, Italy). I play the most total transparency. For the moment, this origin is not enshrined in the law,” he defined on Friday on TF1.
For his half, Bruno Le Maire introduced on Thursday that he would quickly perform greater than 10,000 checks on the query of the origin of merchandise.
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/drapeau-francais-sur-les-produits-alimentaires-gage-ou-argument-marketing-02-02-2024-2551349_23.php#xtor=RSS-221