Regulation of trans fats
25.11.2013
Question for written answer E-013367-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Ryszard Antoni Legutko (ECR)
Work has been underway at the European Food Safety Authority since 2004 to prepare regulations on the harmful ‘trans fats’ found in everyday foodstuffs (margarines, margarine/butter mixtures, chips, fast foods, packets soups and sauces, popcorn, cookies, chocolate bars, other chocolate-based products etc.).
The European Union has not yet drafted any specific regulations on trans fat products. We should follow the lead of Denmark, where the sale of processed foodstuffs with a higher than normal concentration of trans fats has been banned since 2003. In Canada it has been obligatory to include the trans fat content on all foodstuff labels since 2004, and a ban on the sale of products containing more than 5% trans fats in relation to other fats was introduced in 2005.
I should therefore like to ask the Commission the following questions:
- 1.what progress has been made with work on this issue in the EU?
- 2.why has the European Union not yet drafted any regulations on the inclusion of trans fat content on packaged foodstuffs, or introduced a ban on the production of foodstuffs which exceed the permissible level of trans fats?
- 3.does the Commission intend to launch an information campaign aimed at raising awareness among EU citizens of the risks associated with the consumption of foodstuffs containing trans fats?
OJ C 239, 23/07/2014