2023-06-27 17:11:59
Very comfortable bacon bits in their trays; packages of sweets or hazelnuts inflated two-thirds… with air. Who has not noticed, while shopping, the difference between the volume of certain packaging and the quantity of products offered? Regularly challenged by its members, the Foodwatch consumer association once again scoured the shelves to highlight five products containing between “44% and 68% vacuum”.
“Exceeded” by the « aberrations » noted, Foodwatch and the environmental protection association Zero Waste France have joined forces to put on notice five major brands (Carambar, Côte d’Or, Daco Bello, Herta and Rana) to cease their “oversized packaging” within thirty days. Without reaction on their part, they will take legal action, they warned, during a press briefing, Tuesday, June 27.
“End industrial impunity”
These practices are “likely to mislead the consumer about the actual quantity of food contained in the package and go against the urgent efforts that manufacturers must make to reduce the impact of their production on the environment and their waste”say the associations, which have been calling on industrialists and public authorities on the subject since 2020.
“During these thirty days, we are going to challenge these brands through a petition, but also open the door to dialogue with these brands and exchange with the public authorities so that they force manufacturers to change their practices, explains Audrey Morice, campaign manager at Foodwatch. It is time to put an end to the impunity of manufacturers who do not respect their commitments. »
Generalize deposit and bulk
If there were to be litigation, Zero Waste France would like to base its action on article R543-47 of the environmental code, resulting from a European directive of 1994, authorizing packaging when it is necessary to “guarantee the hygiene, safety and acceptability of the product”. “If the first two notions are quite objective, this notion of acceptability has never been interpreted by a judge. Are we talking about consumer acceptability? », explains Alice Elfassi, legal affairs manager at Zero Waste France.
“We are in a context where things are changing, but where we see that manufacturers are having trouble adapting to develop reuse and get out of disposables”, she continues. The associations are asking for the generalization of deposits and bulk, but also a tax on plastic packaging for “discourage this type of practice”.
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