EXCLUSIVE: Pieter Cleppe says whatever one’s view of Brexit “there is no good reason for regulation to make simple health information harder to understand”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Image: Getty)
British food businesses are still forced to use outdated EU-era wording such as “faecal bulk” when describing the health benefits of fibre, despite Brexit, a Brussels-based expert has warned. Pieter Cleppe, the EU policy analyst, editor-in-chief of BrusselsReport.eu, classical liberal commentator, research fellow at the Property Rights Alliance and columnist for The Spectator, The Telegraph and National Review, said the continued use of the restrictive language was absurd more than six years after the UK left the European Union.
He said: “Six years after Brexit, it is absurd that British food labels can still be tied up in Brussels-era language about ‘faecal bulk’ when they should be able to tell consumers, in plain English, what fibre does for their health. Whatever your view of Brexit, there is no good reason for regulation to make simple health information harder to understand. The government may like to listen to the complaints of Marks and Spencer and use its Brexit freedoms to replace this bureaucratic language with clear, evidence-based wording that people actually understand.”
The UK still has to adhere to EU rules when it comes to food labelling, said Pieter Cleppe (Image: Getty)
His comments follow a letter from Marks & Spencer, nutritionist Emily English and Bowel Cancer UK ambassador Dr Anisha Patel to the Health Secretary.
The retailer is calling for an overhaul of the rules governing health claims so that supermarkets can communicate the benefits of fibre in everyday language rather than the technical phrasing still required under the current regime.
That regime, which originates in EU rules from 2006 and remains in force as assimilated law, restricts on-pack claims to approved wording such as “barley grain fibre contributes to an increase in faecal bulk” or “wheat bran fibre contributes to an accelerated intestinal transit time”.
M&S wants the UK Nutrition and Health Claims Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition to allow simpler, evidence-based alternatives including “improves gut health”.
Alex Freudmann, Managing Director of Food at M&S, said: “Customers tell us they want to eat more fibre, but the current rules make it harder than it should be to explain the benefits in a simple, everyday way.
“We are transforming our ranges, making affordable fibre-rich foods easier to shop and raising awareness of the health benefits of fibre by working with Bowel Cancer UK, but we need the rules to catch up.
This is a practical, evidence-based change that could help millions of people make healthier choices and support the Government’s prevention agenda.”
The intervention comes amid a persistent public-health shortfall. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that 96 per cent of UK adults consume less than the recommended 30g of fibre a day. M&S research found that 92 per cent of its customers want to eat more fibre, yet many remain unclear about how or why it matters.
Low fibre intake is linked to higher risks of bowel cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with one person diagnosed every 11 minutes. More than one in four cases are associated with low fibre consumption. The disease affects more than 48,000 people each year and costs the economy over £1billion annually.
Dr Anisha Patel, a bowel cancer survivor and Bowel Cancer UK ambassador, said: “Every day, I see how much of our ill health is driven by preventable disease, yet many people are still unaware of just how important fibre is for their long-term health. A diet rich in fibre is associated with a lower risk of bowel cancer.
Around 1 in 3 preventable bowel cancer cases are linked to a low-fibre diet, making fibre one of the simplest and most effective ways we can reduce cancer risk. If we are serious about improving the nation’s health, we need to make healthy choices easier, and that starts with using language people actually understand.”
The letter forms part of M&S Food’s Better with Beans campaign with Bowel Cancer UK. The retailer has donated £50,000 to the charity, refreshed its beans and pulses range with products starting from 55p, and committed to increasing sales of affordable store-cupboard bean products by 15 % by 2028.
For Cleppe and others tracking post-Brexit regulatory reform, the episode underlines a wider point: while the UK now has the legal freedom to rewrite retained EU rules, many technical standards on food labelling and health claims have still not been updated for a British audience.