Information & labelling
Consumer information is essential to ensure that consumer can make informed choices about their nutrition.
EDA is committed to providing harmonised and credible labelling information to the consumers, in the spirit of the EU Food Information to Consumers Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.
Our EDA guidelines are part of this commitment, and they showcase the unanimous effort of the dairy industry to provide transparency and enhance consumer trust.
Protected Dairy Terms
In the EU, terms such as milk, butter, yogurt, and whey are legally reserved for dairy products and cannot be used for products that imitate them. This protection is established under the EU Common Market Organisation Regulation and has been in place for nearly 40 years. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly confirmed this approach, recognising both the unique qualities of milk and dairy products and the need to protect consumers from misleading practices.
The European Dairy Association (EDA) and its members are committed to safeguarding these protected dairy terms. To support this, the EDA has developed Guidelines on Protected Dairy Terms.
Origin labelling
The members of the European Dairy Association fully support harmonised voluntary origin labelling. EDA is committed to ensuring an accurate and credible labelling information to the EU consumers, and highlight specific links between a product and its origin, where the food business operator wishes to do so.
Front of pack nutrition labelling
EDA is committed to ensuring accurate, useful, and credible information to EU consumers. In doing so, EDA fully supports the consumer’s right to be fully informed of the nutritional properties of the foods they consume. In this spirit, we have worked on guiding principles that we believe are essential for a credible and informative voluntary front-of-pack nutritional label.
Harmonised application
Its application should be voluntary and harmonised across the EU
Dietary guidelines
The scheme should be in line with food-based dietary guidelines and consider essential nutrients (e.g. calcium) and basic food groups (such as milk and dairy products).
Correct information
It should provide improved and correct information to consumers about the overall nutrient composition of foods considering the frequency and quantity required to achieve a balanced diet.
Scientific evidence
The criteria should be based on sound scientific evidence and be regularly monitored to ensure correct implementation and evaluation of the actual impact on consumer health.