(14 June 2018) – The European Commission has just released a new common methodology for comparing the quality of food products across the EU.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has developed a common methodology to allow national consumer authorities to carry out tests comparing the composition and characteristics of food products sold with similar packaging across the Union.
All food products sold in the EU have to comply with strict safety regulations; consumers must be informed about key characteristics set notably in EU food labelling law and should not be misled for example by packaging.
Based on key principles such as transparency, comparability, similar selection sampling, and testing of products, the methodology complements the actions announced in the Commission’s New Deal for Consumers initiative which aims to:
• clarify and strengthen consumer rights, including prohibiting dual quality practices which are misleading consumers;
• empower qualified entities to launch representative actions on behalf of consumers;
• introduce stronger sanctioning powers for Member States’ consumer authorities.