From animal welfare labels to reusable packaging - what will change in 2023
In 2023 there will be some new legal regulations in the area of nutrition and consumer protection that have already come into force or are due to come into force in the course of the year. These include the planned animal welfare label, a reusable obligation for the catering trade, new maximum values for hydrogen cyanide or the supply chain law, the consumer centers report.
At the beginning of the year, a new regulation is in place Packaging Act came into effect. From now on, restaurants, delivery services and caterers who sell food and drinks on the go must offer reusable containers as an alternative to single-use packaging. An exception applies to smaller businesses such as bakeries and snack bars that have a maximum of five employees and a maximum sales area of 80 square meters. However, they should accept containers brought by customers and clearly point out this possibility. However, the legal requirements only apply to plastic packaging and not to pizza boxes or aluminum trays.
Probably from this summer, with fresh, unprocessed Pork made in Germany, the keeping conditions are marked. There are five categories: Barn, barn plus space, fresh air barn, run/outdoor and organic. At a later date, the mandatory state husbandry labeling of poultry and beef follow and the rules on out-of-home catering and processed products such as Sausage be expanded. The draft of Animal Husbandry Labeling Act was debated in the Bundestag in its first reading on December 15, 2022, after being approved by the Bundesrat in November.
Hydrocyanic acid and the mold toxin ochratoxin (OTA) can occur naturally in food. If they are eaten in large quantities, they can be harmful to health. Therefore, from this year there are new maximum levels for OTA - for example for dried fruit, herbal tea ingredients, pistachios and cocoa powder. For certain foods such as baked goods and dried grapes, the maximum permitted levels have been lowered. In the case of hydrocyanic acid, from 2023 there will not only be maximum values for apricot kernels, but also for almonds, flaxseed, manioc, manioc and tapioca flour.
Many goods, such as coffee or cocoa, are produced in distant countries. From this year, German companies are legally responsible for compliance with human rights and ecological standards along the supply chain. The Supply Chain Act initially obliges companies with more than 3.000 employees to identify risks of human rights violations and environmental destruction at their direct suppliers and, depending on the event, also at indirect suppliers, to take countermeasures and to document these to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). The consumer centers point out that the supply chain law still offers too many loopholes. Consumers who want to shop sustainably should therefore orientate themselves more towards proven fair trade seals.
Heike Kreutz, www.bzfe.de
