Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment our colleague, Senator Feargal Quinn, for introducing this initiative. He has a tough battle ahead of him. Judging from the Minister of State's reply, once again this will be kicked into Europe where the most powerful of all lobbies is operating. The food lobby is one of the biggest in Europe and features the major multinationals in particular. These have continually resisted types of proposals such as that of Senator Quinn that are in the interests of openness and transparency, consumer information and protection. It would be a coup of sorts for this country to lead on this issue, rather than kick it back into the melting pot of Europe and wait for the Commission. Time and again, whenever proposals have been brought forward to make labelling more transparent, the food lobby has somehow managed to undermine the very best intentions of Members of the European Parliament and, indeed, the Commission's original proposals. The past decade in particular is littered with examples of where the food industry has managed to get its way, even on the most basic point. For example, I am sure that if the Minister of State were to go into any supermarket or corner store, and read the labelling on any food-related product, as I do, he would find nine or ten times out of ten a reference to sodium. We call it salt, not sodium. That is just one example of where the food industry has resisted, by not using the word "salt". In the context of sugar content, the industry has played around with words time and again to ensure there is a high sugar content, especially in children's cereals. This is exceptionally damaging to the young population, not only of this country but of Europe in general.

As a result of consumer pressure, some of the major international food companies such as Nestlé and, at more local level, Marks and Spencer, have responded, albeit belatedly and, in my opinion, somewhat timidly, and have said they will reduce the salt and sugar content of their goods. They are beginning to dismantle this to a degree in the United States, primarily because of consumer pressure. There are blatant examples of sugar being used in so-called health foods.

That is why I am passionate about this subject. It is long past time the food companies were brought to heel in this regard. I hope this will be an instructive and informed debate. If the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, cannot take this legislation on, he should take on the issue in the interests of the consumer and fight the good fight with the major food industries which are an exceptionally powerful lobby. They use millions of euro to ensure legislation such as this is resisted right down the line.

I compliment Senator Feargal Quinn on introducing the Bill. I hope this is the beginning, not the end, of a serious debate on protecting the consumer, which is long overdue.