Almost a third of food products are identically or similarly branded but have a different composition, according to research published by the European Commission.
The pan-European analysis, carried out by the Commission’s in-house science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre, involved 1,380 samples of 128 food products in 19 EU countries. The UK was not involved.
The researchers found that 9% of the compared products differed in composition (that is, variations in the content of nutrients and/or ingredients) despite the front-of-pack being identical. A further 22% of the products with a different composition had a similar front-of-pack.
However, in the majority of cases the composition matched the way products were presented: 23% of products contained what the front-of-pack said, whilst 27% highlighted their different composition in different EU countries with a alternative front-of-pack.
There are concerns that differences in ingredients in comparable products could in the long term pose a risk to consumers’ health, particularly in the case of vulnerable consumers such as children or people with dietary and health issues.
Critically, the team found “no consistent geographical pattern” in the use of the same or similar packaging for products with different compositions. The difference in the composition found in the products tested “do not necessarily constitute a difference in product quality” JRC concluded.
Concerns of so-called “dual quality” within the EU have snowballed in recent years. This involves products marketed the same way on the front of the pack but with “significantly different” composition or characteristics that could “unfairly and illegally mislead consumers”. Countries in Eastern Europe, including Hungary and Slovakia, raised concerns, leading to the Commission’s study.
Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for education, culture, youth and sport and responsible for the JRC, admitted that the results are “mixed”.
“While I am happy that they found no evidence of an East-West divide in the composition of branded food products, I am worried that they uncovered up to one third of tested products having different compositions while being identically or similarly branded,” he explained.
The Commission has launched a new call for proposals, with a total budget of €1.26m (£1.13m), to increase and improve testing of products and help identify potentially misleading practices. The deadline for applications is November 6th 2019.
