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Impact of health care reform on price index still unclear
As reported by the Federal Statistical Office, the consumer price index in Germany is expected to increase by 2004% in January 2003 compared to January 1,2 (December 2003 compared to December 2002: +1,1%) according to available results from six federal states.
The effects of the health care reform have a significant share in the increase in prices: the co-payments of those with statutory health insurance are included in the consumer price index. In contrast, contributions to statutory health insurance as social contributions are not part of consumer spending.
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Accusation of the information blockade against the German meat industry
In a project funded by the HANS-BÖCKLER-STIFTUNG, the federal association VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE asked more than 200 German meat producers about the product quality, the work situation as well as animal and environmental protection in their production last year. Despite all efforts and follow-up actions, only 18 companies were willing to answer the short questionnaire.
"An outrageous result in view of the responsibility of the industry and the current scandals and events in the past, which should actually lead to absolute openness of these companies," judged Volkmar Lübke, board member of the CONSUMER INITIATIVE at the presentation of the research results. "But we were even more outraged when we had to realize that the companies that responded probably didn't always tell the truth either." of the answers received are checked for comprehensive and correct information. Such inconsistencies turned out that considerable doubts were raised about the information policy of the companies. Therefore, this information cannot be used for a credible shopping guide either.
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Food scientists at the University of Hanover are investigating the benefits of dietary supplements
They are colorfully packaged on the shelves of drugstores and supermarkets and suggest fitness and health: vitamins, minerals or plant extracts such as green tea extract. Consumer expectations of dietary supplements are high, ranging from disease protection and performance enhancement to delaying the signs of aging. But what about the beneficial effects of vitamin C & Co? Prof. Andreas Hahn and Dr. Maike Wolters from the Institute for Food Science at the University of Hanover wanted to know more about it and initiated the Hanover dietary supplement study: 220 predominantly younger senior women took part in the six-month study phase. Half of them received a common multivitamin and the other half received placebos.
"One of the surprising initial findings of the study was that 30 percent of the subjects had a deficit in vitamins B1, B6 and B12, despite a balanced diet," says Wolters. This can be explained in part by the more frequent occurrence of symptomless gastrointestinal diseases in old age, which reduce the absorption of vitamin B12. This deficit can be partially remedied by dietary supplements.
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On the basis of the statistical data available, the food industry is expected to post a nominal growth in turnover of 2003 percent in 2,3 according to BVE estimates. The total turnover of the fourth largest German branch of industry will thus amount to approx. 128 billion euros rise. As has been the case for many years, this result is primarily due to good export activity. With an estimated export growth of 7,3 percent, the industry can expand its export share to 20 percent.
The intensification of our exchange of goods with the EU member states plays just as important a role in this as the development of business relationships with the new member states. The opening of the borders offers excellent opportunities for both sides, which must be used. The development of the exchange of goods proves this: German exports to the eight Eastern European accession countries rose from 1997 to 2002 from 1,13 to 1,5 billion euros. During the same period, imports rose from 1 billion to 1,5 billion euros.
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Industry calls for better coordination in crises
The food industry complains that there are still distortions in the German market due to uncoordinated, often politically motivated behavior by the federal states responsible for monitoring - especially in times of crisis. Better coordination is needed here, primarily on the issue of public warnings. The federal government has a duty to coordinate, the states have a duty to cooperate. This is the only way consumers can be properly informed and thus effectively protected, and this is the only way companies can be protected from the consequences of political-populist "information bustle", which in some cases threaten their very existence. Consumer Information Act: Do not overdo the right to information
Last but not least, our experience with the willingness of some authorities and politicians to communicate explains our negative attitude towards the consumer information law advocated by the federal government and also by a number of federal states. If every citizen is to have a comprehensive right to information on basically all information relevant to "self-determined behavior", this in principle allows a complete "investigation" of the companies. Even if the right to information will be designed for the citizen, it can be foreseen that it will be used much more by organizations that use the information for their political purposes. Such a law would give them ammunition with which to pressure companies or, in the worst case, even "show them off" in public. Should the project gain political acceptance, sufficient security mechanisms must be provided in any case in order to prevent lasting damage to products, brands, companies and thus also to jobs.
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EU draft ordinance on nutrition and health claims made on food is a mistake in regulatory policy - the ordinance discriminates against individual foods
The EU Commission's draft regulation on nutrition and health claims made about food pursues - in principle quite rightly - the aim of harmonizing these statements with regard to food. In practice, a project has emerged with which the food industry - and in particular food advertising - is blamed for the health-political problem of obesity.
The EU Commission seems to assume that advertising is misleading, that advertising is misunderstood and that too much advertising leads to increased consumption. Even the federal government came to the conclusion in its nutrition report from 2000 that there was no connection between the intensity of advertising for certain foods and the frequency of consumption of those foods.
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Black Forest people have always known what tastes good. In the meantime, most trade fair visitors have also been won over by the finely seasoned, hearty Black Forest ham. Paulina, 21, insisted on trying the delicious "ham snack" for herself. Peter Amian from the Baden-Württemberg stand wowed visitors to the CMA country hall with this ham made by Hans Adler OHG from Bonndorf according to a traditional recipe. The secret: the carefully selected raw goods are smoked over fir wood in the fireplace by Black Forest in-house butchers, and the ham matures to its robust taste in the fresh mountain air.
Black Forest people have always known what tastes good. In the meantime, most trade fair visitors have also been won over by the finely seasoned, hearty Black Forest ham. Paulina, 21, insisted on trying Peter Amian's delicious "ham snack" for herself.
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The City of Munich joins the Munich White Sausage Protection Association. This was decided by the Committee for Labor and Economics of the Munich City Council at its meeting yesterday. The city wants to support the application of the protection association at the German Patent and Trademark Office to have the name "Münchner Weißwurst" protected. Only sausages that are produced in the city or in the district of Munich may then be marketed under this name.
The application is based on an EU regulation from 1992. It regulates the protection of designations of origin and geographical indications of food. Around 600 products are on the EU list, including the “Spreewald gherkin”, the “Allgäu mountain cheese” and the “Nuremberg bratwurst”.
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The CMA country hall is once again the crowd puller at the Green Week this year. Even before the last trade fair weekend, the CMA can announce a positive conclusion of the world's largest agricultural show. "After the first seven days of the fair, most exhibitors are more than satisfied with the course of the Green Week in the country hall. Despite the ongoing discussion about health and tax reform, visitors to the fair are not reluctant to buy. People are happy to give money for high-quality agricultural products and the CMA country hall has the widest range of offers from German regions," reports CMA press spokesman Detlef Steinert.
The sales of the original Thuringian sausages can be taken as an indicator of the public success: by Friday evening at 18 p.m. around 00 Thuringian sausages will have been eaten by the trade fair visitors in the CMA country hall. Lined up, they would be 18.000 kilometers long, which is almost the entire length of the route from Ernst-Reuter-Platz via the Victory Column to the Brandenburg Gate.
The joint show of the federal states in Hall 20 is this year again under the motto "Marketplace for connoisseurs - Taste the diversity of the regions". Most of the trade fair visitors came to the CMA country hall on the first seven days of the fair and enjoyed the numerous regional specialties.
The highlights of this year were the second potato peeling championship of the federal states, which was won by Titus Dickson from Potsdam from Brandenburg, as well as the first taste book for the Green Week, which will be fully printed by tomorrow and by the actress Anna Thalbach at 11:00 a.m. on the Green week in Hall 3.2. The Green Week is still open on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 18:00 p.m. The next Green Week will take place from 21st to 30th January 2005.
