Agriculture Minister Köstinger demands: Labeling of origin for processed products must also be in regulation.
Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) has submitted a draft ordinance for labeling the origin of the primary ingredients beef and eggs in public and private communal catering. Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) called for food processors to be held accountable in the APA conversation. “I also expect implementation for processed products.” This point should be included in the regulation.
In the government program, the ÖVP and the Greens had committed to mandatory labeling of the origin of the primary ingredients milk, meat and eggs in public and private communal catering such as canteens and in processed foods from 2021. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture have commissioned a legal opinion from Innsbruck's European law expert Walter Obwexer, which is now available.
“There are possibilities”
A country origin labeling of primary ingredients in mass catering and in processed foods is currently only possible for foods where the EU-wide Food Information Regulation and Primary Ingredient Regulation do not apply, Obwexer told the APA. Nationally, a mandatory indication of origin can only be introduced for beef and meat products, egg products and fruit and vegetables. “Austria has limits on this obligation to indicate the source, but there are possibilities,” said Obwexer.
Agriculture Minister Köstinger is confident that Austria can “find its own way”. “We know that there are also hurdles under EU law and that it will not be easy to implement, especially because the European Union's primary ingredient regulation exists.” At the EU level, people will be pushing for origin labeling to be possible in the long term in processed products and in communal catering, including pork, poultry and milk, announced Köstinger. This must happen within the framework of the “from farm to table” strategy.
The domestic food industry has always been critical of the plans of the first turquoise-blue and now turquoise-green federal government to introduce labels of origin for processed foods. Most recently, the industry demanded that the labeling of origin only be implemented in accordance with the EU. A purely national obligation would only affect domestic manufacturers and their foods “Made in Austria”, but not their foreign competitors and imported products, according to the WKÖ Association of the Food Industry.
