The State grants this derogation for six months because of the sunflower oil supply problems encountered by manufacturers.
The state on Tuesday authorized manufacturers of margarine, crisps, sauces, biscuits or casseroles for up to six months to replace sunflower oil in their recipes without changing their packaging, due to supply difficulties due to the war in Ukraine. The industrialists who will make this request for derogation will be able to use, for example, rapeseed oil, detailed Bercy on Tuesday after consultation with industrialists and consumer associations. “We welcome this decision. Some packaging will have to be modified within two months, this period is short but we will adapt», says Jérôme Foucault of the Association of Processed Food Products Companies (Adepale).
Very different story from the side of the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir: “ We are not satisfied. Admittedly, there will also be generic information on the shelves specifying on banners that recipes have been modified to alert consumers, but we asked that the exact list of products concerned be written, which will not be the case. », regrets Olivier Andrault, in charge of food mission within the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir.
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Manufacturers will have a period of six months to change their packaging but will indeed have to indicate before two months on the packaging that a change of recipe has taken place without necessarily specifying which one. In the case of the addition of allergenic products, or in the event that the packaging contains claims that are no longer true, such as “100% organic” Where “without palm oilfor example, the indication of a change in recipes must, on the other hand, be immediate. “ There will be information on the package. We are satisfied on this point because the information for consumers is clear », estimates Olivier Andrault, in charge of food mission within the association of consumers UFC-Que Choisir.
Changes referenced on the internet
All revenue changes that have been waived will be referenced on a Fraud Prevention website (DGCCRF), a department of the Ministry of the Economy. According to Bercy, several hundred or even a thousand references could be the subject of these requests for exemptions, in particular fried products such as crisps or fries, or breaded, or even margarine, sauces, pasta, canned in oil…
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The industrialists had seized the services of Bercy several weeks ago to alert on the tensions of supply of sunflower oil, and to ask the authorization to modify the receipts. The NGO Foodwatch then insisted on the need for a “total transparency“, and reacted on Tuesday by saluting”the efforts of transparency of the authorities“. She warned, however,on the puzzle of access to information for consumers“, at best via stickers on the packaging – “but not always– or via a QR code in stores linking to the Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) website.