Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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150. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the development of national food labelling legislation; his views on front-of-pack nutrition labelling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49514/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Food labelling in the EU is governed by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (FIC). This contains mandatory requirements in regard to the provision of nutrition labelling in pre-packaged foods.

The Regulation also provides that EU Member States can recommend use, within their own territory, of a voluntary scheme which provides additional forms of expression or presentation of nutritional information for specified nutrients on the front-of-pack (FOP) of a product, once the proposed scheme meets certain criteria. There is currently no harmonised legislation at EU level on front-of-pack labelling (FOP).

In 2016, the Department of Health published an 'Obesity Policy and Action Plan for 2016-2025' which included an action point to review EU consumer information labelling of food products and with a view to its application in the Irish market. This issue will be considered in due course by the national Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group (OPIOG).