Study finds one third of European food products have same brand, but different contents

The EU has found almost a third of branded food products sold in the European Union have the same, or similar labelling, but different contents.

Countries in Eastern Europe had in the past complained that big brands sell lower quality food in their markets.

However, a European Commission report said it did not find an apparent difference in eastern and western countries.

The study assessed 1,380 samples of 128 different food products from 19 Member States. The sample is, however, not representative of the vast diversity of food products on the EU market.

The study found that:

• In the majority of cases, the composition matched the way products were presented: 23% of products had an identical front-of-pack and an identical composition, and 27% of products signaled their different composition in different EU countries with a different front-of-pack.

• 9% of products presented as being the same across the EU had a different composition:they had an identical front-of-pack, but a different composition.

• A further 22% of products presented in a similar way had a different composition: they had a similar front-of-pack, yet a different composition.

• There is no consistent geographical pattern in the use of the same or similar packaging for products with different compositions. Moreover, the difference in the composition found in the products tested do not necessarily constitute a difference in product quality.

Hungarian commissioner Tibor Navracsics said he was happy that there was no evidence of an east-west divide, but described the findings as “mixed”.

“I am worried that they uncovered up to one third of tested products having different compositions while being identically or similarly branded,” he said in a statement.

Via Euronews / European Commission