WRITTEN QUESTION E-2479/00 by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission. Food labelling with regard to nut allergies.
Date: 2000-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: allergy, consumer information, foodstuff, labelling, nut, packaging

18.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 113 E/107

(2001/C 113 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2479/00

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Food labelling with regard to nut allergies

(24 July 2000)

At present, symbols are used in food labelling which enable the public to choose which foods they
purchase. This may assist personal choice (e.g. (cid:145)suitable for vegans(cid:146)) or for health reasons (e.g. (cid:145)gluten-free(cid:146)).
These symbols are clear enough for everyone to see and guarantee that the product contains only the
correct ingredients.

Will the Commission please indicate whether there are any proposals to extend these measures to include
a symbol which denotes (cid:145)100 % guaranteed nut free(cid:146) since, for EU citizens suffering from a nut allergy, any
error in reading the labels on food could be life-threatening?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(29 September 2000)

The Commission believes it is advisable to assist people who have allergies as much as possible by giving
them more comprehensive information about the composition of products. This will in fact ensure better
consumer information in general as to the composition of a food product, and at the same time it will
ensure the necessary information for those consumers who, for health or ethical reasons, have to, or want
to, avoid certain ingredients.

In the white paper on food safety (1), the Commission announced that it intends to propose a new
amendment to Directive 2000/13/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of
foodstuffs (2) (previous Council Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 (3)) which would change the
current possibility of not indicating the components of compound ingredients, where they form less than
25 % of the final product. Furthermore, the Commission intends to amend the Community legislation to
ensure that foodstuffs and ingredients, that are recognised scientifically as being a source of allergies, are
systematically listed on labels.

(1) COM(1999) 719 final.
(2) OJ L 109, 6.5.2000.
(3) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979.

(2001/C 113 E/108)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2480/00

by Alonso Puerta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(24 July 2000)

Subject: Delay in the approval of the Community support framework for Spain

Before 1 November 1999 the Spanish Government submitted the regional development programme for
2000 to 2006 for the Spanish regions covered by Objective 1 of the European Structural Funds. In
accordance with Article 15(4) and (5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying
down general provisions on the Structural Funds (1), the Commission should have adopted a decision on
the contribution from the Funds not later than five months after receiving the plan, in other words by
1 April 2000.

Why is the Commission being so slow to approve the Community support framework for Spain?

Is it the case that the RDP initially submitted by the Spanish Government was incomplete and wanting
because it did not contain all the features listed in Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999?