Farmers and the government have been hammering home this point for several weeks: “made in France” must be in the spotlight on supermarket shelves. Although many products display a tricolor flag on their packaging, some producers do not hesitate to use it despite the foreign origin of their raw materials. Out of 1000 establishments recently inspected by Fraud Repression, 372 anomalies were detected, including 70 “serious, which resemble deceptive commercial practices”, according to the Minister of Consumer Affairs.
For Olivia Grégoire, interviewed on Sud Radio, “we need more transparency on processed products, we must better inform consumers” who choose a reference in relation to its price, but also in relation to its origin. To better inform customers on the shelves, the minister “suggests that manufacturers, associations and also voluntary distributors work together in mid-March on transparency”.
She suggests in particular the establishment of an “Origin Score” which would make it possible to better trace the places of food production. Concretely, the origin of the ingredients would be mentioned “by indicating what is European or not as well as the country of origin and the place of manufacture”, specifies Olivia Grégoire’s office.
To implement this initiative, the minister “is prepared to take it to Europe next year to deploy this Origin Score” across the continent and “for it to spread” in other countries. Some French distributors had already launched similar initiatives in the past, such as Intermarché, Leclerc and Auchan. It remains to be seen whether they will once again wish to play the game of transparency with their customers.
