Green seal in the exam test: Trust in food decreases quickly!

Green seal in the exam test: Trust in food decreases quickly!

The environmental protection organization Greenpeace has published an alarming study on food seals, which is of great importance for many consumers. According to the results of Greenpeace, over a quarter of the 42 tested quality marks for food are not trustworthy. Melanie Ebner, agricultural expert at Greenpeace, explained that the variety of seals leads to confusion when purchasing and consumers need real, transparent information to make sustainable decisions. This result goes hand in hand with a survey that shows that 64 percent of the quality marks surveyed are important, but have over 60 percent concerns about greenwashing. These reservations mean that many people pay less attention to seals when buying food, as can be seen from the analysis.

results of the investigation

In the revised quality sign guide from Greenpeace, various seals of approval were analyzed. It turned out that some seals such as the MSC seal for fish and the RSPO seal for palm oil can have negative effects on environmental goals. On the other hand, there are trustworthy quality marks such as Demeter and Bio Austria, which are considered a model. Greenpeace demands that the planned EU "Green Claims" directive make it clear that companies can only submit scientifically certified promise of sustainability. This should only be able to use terms such as "sustainable" and "climate -friendly" in the future if they actually meet transparent standards, which is currently being negotiated. This initiative could help strengthen the trust of consumers in food quality marks and to create clarity.

The analysis also shows that 450,000 tons of pork are produced annually in Austria, with a new examination of animal welfare Austria also making critical comments on meat labels. Similar problems are reflected here, since 40 percent of the labels do not contain any information about animal welfare, while only 14 percent higher standards guarantee. These problems illustrate the urgent need for reformed transparency standards in the food industry in order to enable an informed purchase decision, as the experts from Greenpeace emphasize.