Italy has asked the European Union for an extension to the end of 2021 for the indication of the origin of ingredients on food labels. On April 1st next, in fact, the experimentation granted by the EU to use this instrument will expire, pending a final decision by Brussels. Without a new national or EU Community intervention, milder legislation will come into force. Italian producers, starting with pasta companies, have thus decided to confirm that they will continue to indicate the origin of the wheat on the label.
“Consumers in Italy will still find information about the origin of the raw material on packagings. Regardless of any regulatory framework on the subject, our transparency in letting consumers know where the wheat used to make pasta comes from will not change”. This is what Riccardo Felicetti, president of the Italian pasta makers of Unione Italiana Food, said about on the imminent entry into force of the new European regulations.
THE HIGH QUALITY OF ITALIAN PASTA
However, the new EU regulation confirms what Italian pasta makers have been saying for some time: the origin of wheat is not an indicator of quality or safety. As “quality knows no frontiers – Felicetti recalled – and safety is guaranteed by strict EU regulations and a strict system of national controls in Italy, both on domestic and imported raw materials. Without forgetting many self-made controls by Italian pasta makers.”