Carambar, Côte d’Or, Herta… five brands called upon to review their packaging “full of emptiness”

2023-06-27 15:43:16

Candies, squares of chocolate, hazelnuts, bacon bits and ravioli… these are products purchased by millions of French people. The Foodwatch and Zero Waste France associations announced on Tuesday that they had given notice to five major brands to change the packaging of the products they market, deemed to be oversized in relation to the content.

“With this formal notice, we are giving Carambar, Côte d’Or (Mondelez), Daco Bello, Herta and Rana 30 days to withdraw their products from the market and undertake to no longer market products full of voids. “, say the associations in a press release. In the absence of a reaction, Foodwatch (consumer defense) and Zero Waste (fight against waste) “will take legal action”.

Up to 68% vacuum for a bag of hazelnuts

The associations claim to have been alerted by consumers, surprised at the discrepancy between the volume of the packaging and the quantity of product inside. According to their calculations, a tray of bacon bits from Herta’s nitrite-free range contains 54% vacuum, a bag of Côte d’Or dark chocolate squares climbs to 61% vacuum and even 68% vacuum for hazelnuts. peeled shells sold by Daco Bello.

“If for the agri-food industry, vacuum can sometimes be necessary, for example to protect food during transport or better preserve its quality, in the examples pointed out, the packaging contains unnecessary vacuum which could be reduced”, believe the associations.

What does the consumer code say?

Their action is based on environmental and consumer codes. The first prescribes in an article that “packaging must be designed and manufactured in such a way as to limit its volume and mass to the minimum necessary to ensure a sufficient level of safety, hygiene and acceptability”. The second provides the definition of a deceptive commercial practice.

“The associations consider that the packaging of your product constitutes a misleading commercial practice, in that its presentation and its packaging mislead, giving the impression to consumers that they are buying a quantity significantly larger than what is actually contained. in the packaging”, indicate their lawyers in the formal notices consulted by AFP. Foodwatch and Zero Waste France thus say they are “strengthening their action” after having repeatedly denounced over-packaging without tangible results.