2020/0031/I
EC/EFTA
IT Italy
  • C60A - Labelling
2020-04-28
2020-02-03

Prepacked food as defined in Article 2(2)(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

Draft Ministerial Decree laying down the form of presentation and the conditions of use of the optional nutrition

logo complementary to the nutrition declaration in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

The draft Decree has been adopted in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.
Italy would like to recommend to food business operators the use of a form of expression complementary to the nutrition declaration. Operators are given the freedom to decide whether to voluntarily apply said recommended form. The form will be a logo called NutrInform Battery. The draft Decree sets out the general principles that businesses should respect when making labels.
Under Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, the Commission allows Member States to adopt forms of expression on labels to facilitate understanding of the nutritional characteristics of a food. Recital No 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 confirms that the nutrition information acts as a support and does not substitute specific dietary actions in the context of public health policies. Recital No 43 indicates that the additional forms of expression do not, therefore, replace the nutrition declaration, but they help to better understand its information.
The aim of the additional forms of nutrition labelling laid down in Article 35 is, therefore, to simplify information related to the intake levels of these nutrients and not to compile a classification of foods based on the different composition of the latter. The purpose of the additional forms of nutritional labelling is merely informative, whereby they have an educational value and prevent the consumer from making choices that are too generalised, thus replacing and cancelling the effectiveness of specific nutrition education policies.
The system identified therefore consistently supports the guidelines suggested by the European Commission High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity. Among the various voluntary systems present at international level, the only one that appears to meet these criteria is that of the RI (Reference Intakes) icons, which have been developed by the European industry since 2005 (the ‘GDA icons’) with a non-directive or discriminatory approach, informing without prescribing and stimulating the cultural growth of the consumer through a simple graphic form.
By using the RI as a scientific base, Italy hypothesised a kind of evolution of the current AR icons (ex GDA) through the development of a graphic form that is easier for the consumer to understand, therefore allowing them to immediately understand the extent to which the portion of food to be consumed contributes to their energy needs and other nutrients to which particular attention must be paid (fats, saturated fats, sugars and salt).