A guide to food labelling

Claudia Weiß, Karlsruhe

Consumer information on German food packages includes a great many symbols of quality, produce of organic farming, provenience and others. The terms “label”, “symbol” and “sign” are synonyms of pictorial or written information, voluntary elements of food labelling printed on food packages.

They are intended to help consumers in making their choice, but fail to do so because of the confusing multitude of different types. The author explains, exemplifies and evaluates signs used for produce of organic farming, environmental/animal protection, fair trade and provenience according to the judgements of consumer protectors, associations and the internet platform label-online.de.

Essential evaluation criteria are the claim , independence (who awards the symbol?), possibility of checking the compliance with criteria, and transparency (is the evaluation convincing?).

Keywords: voluntary food labelling, quality, test mark, consumer information, consumer protection

Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs Umschau 02/08 ab Seite 83.