A pilot of environmental labelling on selected food products is launching in the UK in September 2021. The aim of the pilot is to test consumer responses ahead of a roll-out across the UK and European Union in 2022. The scheme is run by UK non-profit Foundation Earth and supported by supermarkets and food brands including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Co-op Food, Nestlé and Tyson Foods.
The eco-labels will be in the style of “traffic-light” labelling, with a single score (ranging from A+ to G) presented on the front of food packaging. The score considers impacts across the farming, processing, packaging and transport stages of the supply chain. Greenhouse gas emissions are weighted at 49% of the total score, with 17% to each of water use, water pollution and biodiversity loss. The scores are based on data from the paper Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers (read the TABLE summary here).
Read more on the Foundation Earth website here and here. Media coverage can be found in The Independent, The Guardian and Which? See also the TABLE explainer What can be done to shift eating patterns in healthier, more sustainable directions?
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