Meat industry concerns for eco-labelling methodology and Greenwashing
In light of the FSA’s ‘Food and you 2’ survey published in March 2023, which covers topics such as food safety in the home, food shopping, eating out, food security, concerns about food and trust in our food supply chain, the results showed respondents had made changes to eating habits in the past year. In terms of confidence in food safety, authenticity and the food supply chain, the below were interesting takeaways:
91% of respondents reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat
86% of respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate
74% of respondents reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain
In terms of top concerns for consumers, results were found to be food prices, food waste and the amount of sugar in food. Given the apparent lack of demand and shifting priorities for front of pack information it is interesting to look at the EU’s eco labelling journey so far for the true complexities of implementation. It has seen a commitment to introducing a mandatory nutritional labelling scheme across member states as part of its farm to fork strategy.
This means that companies will have to substantiate green claims using Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles. Lucas Daglish from BMPA wrote in March how this process will measure the environmental performance of a product throughout the value chain and the aim is to help tackle companies making false claims about the environmental footprint of their products and help consumers to make better-informed choices.
However, Lucas shared that there has been criticism of PEF from EU food producers including the organic sector who, in October 2022 stated:
“When applied to food, PEF gives misleading results, since the more extensive the agricultural practice is, the worse it scores making it inadequate for the assessment of agri-food products”
In light of these challenges of eco-labelling, it seems to have opened a bigger issue - notably of inaccurate product claims, aka ‘greenwashing.‘ This is a modern term used when a product or company claim to protect the environment more than it actually does.
In March, as part of the European Green Deal the European Commission published a draft ‘green claims directive.’ The purpose of this directive is to update Union consumer law to ensure that consumers are protected and to empower them to contribute actively to the green transition. It aims at tackling a common set of problems by implementing different elements of the same preferred policy package identified in the Impact Assessment published together with the initiative on empowering consumers for the green transition.
With many businesses looking to shout about the sustainability credentials of their products, and given the increased UK and EU focus to eradicate unsubstantiated green statements as indicated above, the way environmental sustainability is defined and measured needs a watchful eye.
There are significant reputational risks to making misleading product claims, in our industry as well as any other. It is difficult currently to prove or verify claims for meat products such as sustainably-sourced or net-zero etc that are supported by robust scientific evidence, without an agreed scope and criteria.
For the UK meat industry, with the rise of voluntary eco-labelling there is a fine line for us to walk in terms of not making any sustainability claims versus making genuine sustainability claims based on an agreed protocol.
As we look forwards the meat sector’s net-zero targets, we need guidance from government to ensure that consumers have clear information and accurate labelling. Whether the new EU directive above and other rules will discourage greenwashing remains to be seen, but GMA will keep a close eye on the issues and developments as they unfold and share with you the latest information.