The parliamentary report came out of the work of the commission of inquiry on the industrial food must be disclosed on Monday. It contains, according to our information, of the positive points in advocating a number of measures easy to implement : raise awareness among consumers about the importance of better choice in the foods, including those ultra-processed, by learning, by example, how to better read labels, make better choices by limiting the purchase of products high in salt, fat,… Organize in a practical way in the schools, an education in dietetics in a sustainable way.
at the same time, the report suggested that manufacturers reduce the salt concentration in foods, added sugars, and this, through negotiations with actors in various industrial sectors. The parliamentarians also point to the need to strengthen the analysis on the effects of various chemical compounds added in the diet of a voluntary basis (with additives such as colorants, emulsifiers…) or involuntary (pesticide residues, migration of components of packaging to the food…).
also Read Laurent Chevallier : “The least worst of the junk food ! “
legal Arsenal and transparency
Even if it is necessary to act gradually as recommended in the report, the priority must be, above all, the fight against fraud to a certain part of the agribusiness as well as anticipate the risks of scandals and health, using an arsenal more suited to criminal and monetary penalties. Already in 2014 the annual report of the Court of auditors on “the sanitary security of food,” pointed out : Betorder “The absence of sufficient sanctions highlights serious anomalies. “
It is also indispensable to ensure a real transparency of the products from the agri-food industry, which is not always the case currently. Many manufacturers rely on the “secret” of manufacturing and do not mention all of the ingredients or their origins. The advertising must be much better regulated and neuromarketing banned, the one who is able to influence in a very subtle way the brain, in particular that of children. It is also absolutely essential to strengthen the means allocated to the science of toxicology, because some tests currently used on a variety of substances added in food, are totally obsolete.
These measures must be supported by genuine political will. However, analysis of the hearings, some concern might be in order since the minister of Agriculture seems reluctant to take sufficient concrete measures, seeking to “empower” the stakeholders of the sector agro-industrial. He seems to trust them, in other words, in fine, to give them the free field with a minimum of constraints. Hope, however, that this report, a step, will not be buried, like dozens of others before him, highlighting, de facto, the mistrust vis-à-vis some form of industrial food.
On the same topic Laurent Chevallier : “The least worst of the junk food ! “
