Sustainability labelling in the EU food sector : current status and coverage of sustainability aspects : knowledge to support policymaking

The creation of favourable food environments that make sustainable food choices easier to consumers is critical to the EU transition to a more sustainable food system. An important barrier to sustainable food choices relates to the absence of clear and trustful information that could help consumers make better informed decisions. Sustainability labelling can be an important policy instrument to reduce barriers towards sustainable food consumption by increasing consumers' information, understanding and awareness regarding the sustainability value of food products. The present report aims to provide a better understanding of the current status of sustainability labelling in food products in the EU and contribute with sound evidence to the development of policy in the area of sustainability and food information to consumers. It provides a mapping, characterisation and comprehensive overview of existing sustainability-related labels in the EU market including an analysis of the environmental and social aspects covered by a selection of sustainability labelling initiatives and its reliability. More than 200 sustainability-related labels have been identified indicating an increased interest by food business operators in sustainability labelling initiatives. The analysis shows an increased uptake of sustainability labels in the last years, although very heterogeneous among Member States and products groups, and with a limited number of labels dominating the market in terms of new labelled products. Actors in the food supply chain unevenly participate in the implementation of sustainability labels. Current labels are not addressing homogeneously environmental and social impacts, distributing almost equally between very good/good and fair/poor reliability levels. Furthermore, available literature on the effectiveness of environmental sustainability labelling in influencing environmental impacts is limited, with sporadic examples of positive effects on specific impacts, like deforestation.