DISPATCH — The anti-waste associations Foodwatch and Zero Waste France announced today that they have given formal notice to five major brands to stop selling bags full of vacuum. It was the consumers who alerted them.
For their packets of sweets, squares of chocolate, hazelnuts, bacon bits or even ravioli, Carambar, Côte d’Or (Mondelez), Daco Bello, Herta and Rana were challenged: We give them 30 days to that they withdraw their products from the market and undertake to no longer market products full of voids. If they don’t react, the associations will take legal action.
In the absence of a reaction, Foodwatch (consumer defense) and Zero Waste (fight against waste) will take legal action.
If for the agri-food industry, vacuum may sometimes be necessary, for example to protect food during transport or better preserve its quality, in the examples pointed out, the packaging contains unnecessary vacuum which could be reduced , estimate the associations.
Their action is based on environmental and consumer codes.
The first prescribes in an article that packaging must be designed and manufactured in such a way as to limit its volume and mass to the minimum necessary to ensure a sufficient level of safety, hygiene and acceptability.
The second gives the definition of a misleading commercial practice: The associations consider that the packaging of your product constitutes a misleading commercial practice, in that its presentation and its packaging mislead, giving the impression to consumers to buy a quantity significantly larger than what is actually contained in the packaging.
Foodwatch and Zero Waste France say they are beefing up their action after having repeatedly denounced over-packaging without tangible results.
