New food labels, origin finally becomes mandatory for milk and cheese

Every product must indicate the country of milking and processing. This is a benefit for honest farmers, who are being crushed by unfair competition from counterfeit products. And it's a plus for consumers, who finally know what they're buying and don't waste it in the dark.

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new food labels

NEW FOOD LABELS

Even if too slowly, we are finally getting closer to the most civilized countries in the world in terms of Labels food. With the aim of Help honest producers, promote authentic Made in Italy products, and protect consumers from waste and scams.The most important news concerns, for the moment, milk and all its derivatives, starting from cheese.

From April 2017, all products in the milk and dairy supply chain will have to have complete labels, with two valuable indications: the milking country and the milk processing country.

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NEW RULES FOR FOOD LABELS –

Do you have any idea of ​​the many benefits that can come from this simple but essential rule, which we've been advocating on this site for years? First: farmers and milk producers will certainly have a fair economic advantage from it, as correct labeling combats unfair and illegal competition. It's no coincidence that the price of Italian milk, paid directly at the farm, has already increased from 32 to 39 cents. And while this increase may not necessarily be passed on to buyers, it's certainly a welcome relief for an entire Italian agricultural sector that has been struggling for many, many years.

Second advantage: consumers now know what they're eating. Italian milk or milk from elsewhere. Cheese made in Italy or from an unidentified Eastern European country. Everything is clear, from the label to the relative price, including the free and responsible choices of those who shopWithout provenance, however, the consumer always risks paying for something different, thus wasting money and product quality. Third advantage: certifying the country of milking and processing means dealing a blow to the unfortunately always very active agri-food counterfeiting industry.In Italy, where, according to Coldiretti's calculations, counterfeit food products are worth a turnover of one billion and one hundred million euros a year.

A country where you think you're buying certified mozzarella from Campania, but instead you risk finding yourself at the table with morsels made with milk from Eastern European countries. or, worse, with Chinese melanin, and where a third of the wheat used to produce pasta comes from Canada.

TO KNOW MORE: Tunisian, Spanish, and Greek olive oil: this is how we're killing Italian oil. 2016 will be a bad year.

FOOD LABELLING REGULATIONS

Furthermore, based on regulations already fully in force, the new labels will have to be larger and more visible. The size of the writing will be proportional to the packaging, and in any case no smaller than 1,2 millimeters. Information on the origin of pork, poultry, sheep, and goat meat, including the place of slaughter, and on fish, for which the location of slaughter must be indicated, is also mandatory. fishery.

NEW PRODUCT LABELLING RULES –

After the cheese labels and milk, sooner or later we will also have to move on to labels that clearly certify the origin and processing of the wheat and pasta, a sector where Italian-made food producers often have to contend with clones of Italian foods. Those clones come from large multinationals (try figuring out where breakfast cereals are made: impossible) and pose unfair competition to small local producers.

HOW TO DEFEAT THE COUNTERFEITING INDUSTRY:

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