Amen­de­menten Hazekamp over het uitvoe­rings­verslag over de Regel­geving (EC) No 1924/2006 inzake voedings- en gezond­heids­claims voor levens­mid­delen

Motion for a resolution on the implementation report on Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods of the Committee of public health.

Amendment 1
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)

Amendment

– having regard to the WHO Nutrition labelling: policy brief^8a;

^8a https://www.who.int/publicatio...

Amendment 2
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 b (new)

Amendment

– having regards to the WHO guiding principles and framework manual for front-of-pack labelling for promoting healthy diets^9a;

^9a https://www.who.int/publicatio...

Amendment 3
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 c (new)

Amendment

– having regard to the third UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages;

Amendment 4
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 d (new)

Amendment

– having regard to the UNICEF report of December 2013 entitled ‘Children’s Rights in Impact Assessments: A guide for integrating children’s rights into impact assessments and taking action for children^10a;

^10a http://www.unicef.org/csr/css/...

Amendment 5
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Amendment

D a. whereas a much stronger focus on prevention is needed, which requires a holistic approach based on the One Health approach;

Amendment 6
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)

Amendment

D b. whereas unhealthy diets, high in salt, sugar, fat and animal protein are a leading risk factor for disease and mortality in Europe;

Amendment 7
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)

Amendment

D c. whereas according to the WHO^14a unhealthy diets are a leading cause of death and disability and currently cause 8 million premature deaths globally every year; whereas childhood overweight and obesity are increasing global public health challenges, whereas in 2020, 38.9 million children under 5 years of age were estimated to be overweight while over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 were overweight or obese in 2016

^14a https://www.who.int/publicatio...

Amendment 8
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)

Amendment

D d. whereas according to the WHO^15a, a major driver of the increases in obesity are current food environments, with increasing availability, accessibility, affordability and marketing of foods that are high in saturated fats, trans-fats, sugars or salt and are usually highly processed;

^15a https://www.who.int/publicatio...

Amendment 9
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)

Amendment

D e. whereas the development of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and resulting health outcomes are linked to commercial and social determinants of health, which underlying factors correspond to substantial health inequities within and across EU countries;

Amendment 10
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D f (new)

Amendment

D f. whereas numerous global documents endorsed by the World Health Assembly have proposed nutrition labelling as an important policy tool to improve nutrition and promote healthy diets;

Amendment 11
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D g (new)

Amendment

D g. whereas the WHO calls on governments to implement nutrition labelling, first and foremost nutrient declarations followed by Front-of-pack labelling that informs the consumer about the nutritional properties of a food to aid purchase and consumption decisions, with a view to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health^16a;

^16a https://www.who.int/publicatio...

Amendment 12
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D h (new)

Amendment

D h. whereas front-of-pack nutritional labelling supports citizens in making healthier food choices and thereby preventing unhealthy consumption of food high in salt, fat and sugar;

Amendment 13
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D i (new)

Amendment

D i. Whereas 70% of the products sold in supermarkets are ultra-processed foods, containing excessive amounts of sugar, salt and fats, and/or containing harmful food additives such as stabilisers, emulsifiers and thickeners, and/or having been prepared by means of harmful industrial techniques such as chemical modification, leading to an unprecedented health crisis;

Amendment 14
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D j (new)

Amendment

D j. whereas a diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both to improved health and environmental benefits, and transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts; whereas global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50% in order to achieve dietary shifts;

Amendment 15
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D k (new)

Amendment

D k. Whereas the consumption of certain types of animal protein has a negative impact on human health, such as an increased risk of certain cancers and cardio-vascular diseases caused by the consumption of red and processed meats;

Amendment 16
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Recital D l (new)

Amendment

D l. Whereas a shift to diets with a higher share of plant protein could lead to substantial decreases in GHG emissions, biodiversity loss, reduced land occupation and nutrient losses to the surrounding environment, while at the same time providing enormous health benefits and reducing mortality from diet-related non-communicable diseases;

Amendment 17
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

Amendment

3 a. Stresses the importance of promoting sustainable plant-based diets, in line with the objectives of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, by raising consumer awareness on the impact of consumption patterns on human health, animal health and welfare and the environmental footprint and to enable consumers to make healthier choices;

Amendment 18
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)

Amendment

3 b. Calls on the EU to support a shift towards a substantial increase in the consumption of plant-based products, driven by an increase in consumer demand, as it will be beneficial for human health as well as for the environment while also causing less animal suffering;

Amendment 19
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)

Amendment

3 c. Reiterates its strong support for the ambitions and goals of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, in particular for policies stimulating healthy eating and a population-wide shift in consumption patterns towards more healthy foods, diets and lifestyles, including increased consumption of sustainably and regionally produced plants and plant-based foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and to address the overconsumption of meat and ultra-processed products, as well as products high in sugars, salt and fats, which will also benefit the environment and animal welfare and secure a more resilient economy;

Amendment 20
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)

Amendment

3 d. Recognises that front-of-pack labels have been identified by international public health bodies such as the World Health Organisation as a key tool to help consumers make more informed and healthier food choices; deeply deplores the delays on the side of the Commission to ensure that the EU mandatory front-of-pack nutritional label is developed based on robust, independent scientific evidence and demonstrated consumer understanding; stresses that a legislative proposal to ensure mandatory harmonised front-of-pack labeling needs to be adopted during the current mandate of the European Parliament;

Amendment 21
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 e (new)

Amendment

3 e. Calls for regulatory measures to reduce the burden that highly processed foods with high salt, sugar and fat content place on public health and for binding targets for major food producers and retailers to reformulate processed foods;

Amendment 22
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

Amendment

4 a. Recalls that nutrient profiles, which are long overdue, remain pertinent and necessary to meet the objectives of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods⁽⁷²⁾; welcomes the announcement of a legislative proposal to establish nutrient profiles; points out that many food products, including some marketed towards children, continue to use health and nutrition claims despite them having high levels of nutrients of concern; stresses that a robust set of nutrient profiles must be developed to prohibit the use of nutrition and health claims on foods high in fats, sugars and/or salt;

Amendment 23
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

Amendment

4 b. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to create a sustainable food labelling framework and calls on the Commission to define the methodology and specify which dimensions of sustainability would be covered while ensuring that the new scheme does not conflict with existing environmental frameworks such as the EU ecolabel or the organic logo; highlights that many unsubstantiated and even misleading environmental claims and advertising methods are currently being used and calls on the Commission to introduce a regulatory framework establishing a clear, swift and efficient pre-approval procedure for all sustainability claims and labels; stresses that such a framework would protect consumers from untruthful sustainability claims while ensuring that businesses that genuinely strive for more environmentally friendly operations are duly rewarded for their efforts; stresses the need for inspections by public control authorities of any label allowed on food products;

Amendment 24
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

Motion for a resolution

5. Reminds that claims should not mislead consumers about the true nutrient value of a product; highlights that, in the absence of nutrient profiles, claims can stress a positive aspect of an overall unhealthy product; underlines that the development of nutrient profiles is necessary in order to achieve the consumer protection objective of the NHCR; calls for the swift publication of a Commission proposal on nutrient profiles to limit the use of nutrition and health claims on unhealthy foods;

Amendment

5. Reminds that claims should not mislead consumers about the true nutrient value of a product; highlights that, in the absence of nutrient profiles, claims can stress a positive aspect of an overall unhealthy product or a product that exceed thresholds of specific nutrients, such as fat, sugars and salt; underlines that the development of nutrient profiles is necessary in order to achieve the consumer protection objective of the NHCR; calls for the swift publication of a Commission proposal on nutrient profiles to limit the use of nutrition and health claims on unhealthy foods;

Amendment 25
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

Amendment

5 a. Calls for the swift publication of a Commission proposal on harmonised front-of-pack labelling;

Amendment 26
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

Amendment

6 a. Highlights that information asymmetry is expected to persist, with a food environment that is changing quickly, industry focusing on profit and consumers being unable or even unwilling to understand and use label information to support healthy dietary decisions^22a;

^22a https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...

Amendment 27
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)

Amendment

6 b. Highlights that allowing only claims on products that have a positive overall profile or which carry a positive front-of-pack label could aid consumers in selecting healthier products;

Amendment 28
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)

Amendment

6 c. Calls for further research into when—and in what type of wording— claims can be considered a credible, useful and non-misleading source of information;

Amendment 29
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 d (new)

Amendment

6 d. Reiterates the importance of promoting sustainable diets by changing the food environment, raising consumer awareness of the impact of consumption patterns, and by providing information on diets that are better for human health and have a lower environmental footprint;

Amendment 30
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

Amendment

17 a. Calls for renewed attention to achieve an effective and EU-wide approach to tackle the exposure of children and adolescents to the advertising and marketing of processed foods high in fat, sugar and salt on broadcast and digital media; calls on the Commission to consider taking legislative action to protect the health of this vulnerable group of consumers;

Amendment 31
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)

Amendment

17 b. Calls on the Member States and Regional Authorities to ban commercial communications in public spaces for unhealthy foods and to take a stand against the promotion of unhealthy choices by retailers and restaurants;

Amendment 32
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)

Amendment

17 c. Reiterates the importance of recognising the role and influence of the food environment in shaping consumption patterns and the need to make it easier for consumers to choose healthy and sustainable diets; regrets the lack of a systematic and evidence-based approach to creating healthy food environments and the continued reliance on self-regulation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively participate in creating a healthy food environment that sends the right signals to citizens and in particular to children, instead of seducing them to buy sweet, salty and fatty foods;

Amendment 33
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)

Amendment

17 d. Recognises the adverse impact of conflict of interest between public health objectives and the interests of industries producing alcohol, tobacco, poorly nutritious and ultra-processed foods, and meat from animals treated with antibiotics and/or fungicides; emphasises the undue influence of these industries on health policies and strategies which hinder effective NCDs prevention efforts, and underlines that transparency is vital in maintaining the integrity of public health and that it is essential to implement stringent measures to mitigate conflicts of interest;

Amendment 34
Marisa Matias, Anja Hazekamp

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)

Amendment

17 e. Urges the overhaul of the EU promotion programme for agricultural and food products, including the EU school scheme, to align it fully with the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals, with view to bringing it into coherence with the objectives of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy and to enhancing its contribution to sustainable production and consumption, notably by promoting organic produce, focusing on educational messages about the importance of healthy and sustainable nutrition and promoting greater consumption of fruit and vegetables with the aim of reducing obesity rates, increasing environmental awareness and encouraging a shift towards a more sustainable plant-based diet;