Sustainability labelling for food

Sustainability labels are still the subject of controversial debate. On 18 March, Martin Häusling from ‘Die Grünen / EFA’ in the European Parliament hosted a panel discussion entitled ‘Sustainability labels: consumer information or label fraud?’, in which various experts discussed the topic. First, Dr Andrea Beste gave an overview of sustainability labelling in the food sector and spoke out in favour of a Planet Score-style label. This was followed by a discussion between Prof Dr Britta Renner, University of Konstanz, Sabine Bonnot, Planet Score and Martin Häusling, expertly moderated by Dr Tanja Busse. An exciting discussion – Dr Ulrike Eberle from corsus took part in the event.

corsus has been working on sustainability labelling for many years, particularly in the food sector. In 2021, a study on the comparison of environmental labels for food and a roadmap for the implementation of an environmental label was prepared for the BMUV, together with Prof. Dr Achim Spiller, Dr Anke Zühlsdorf and Regine Rehaag. On behalf of the University of Göttingen, corsus developed the methodological concept for the EEKLIM – Klimalabel Niedersachsen project. Furthermore, as part of the CLIF – Climate Impacts of Food project, corsus developed a Food Impact Toolkit to calculate the environmental impact of food. Currently, corsus is part of the EU Life project ECO FOOD CHOICE , in which proposals for a methodology for an environmental label for food are being developed under the leadership of ADEME, as well as proposals on how life cycle assessment data can be extrapolated for other countries. This is because a valid data basis is essential in order to be able to communicate credible information on the environmental impact of food, and such a food life cycle assessment database does not currently exist in Germany.

Another important aspect for a label is that different foods can actually be compared with each other. This raises the question of whether the weight of the food is the appropriate functional unit here, as foods differ in terms of energy and nutrient content. corsus is also working on this and has developed a proposal as part of a project on alternative proteins on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency and presented it at the International Conference on Food Life Cycle Assessment in Barcelona in September 2024.

We are pleased that the discussion on the sustainability labelling of food is being driven forward by the European Parliament! Thanks to Martin Häusling for organising this interesting event.