According to the article, currently, the main EU regulation on food labeling is the Directive 2000/13/EC on the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs to final consumers.  The objective of the directive is to assure that all the essential information of the products, including composition, the manufacturer as well as methods of storage and preparation are brought to consumers.

From the article, the proposal for a revision of the current food labelling rules was proposed by the Commission on January 2008.  It is described that the proposed directive merges two former regulations into new one that concerns both general labelling rules and nutrition labelling.  Some health concern such as obesity is seemed to be a public health in Europe, it is expected that the proposed strict nutrition labelling rules will help consumers to select good products for their health. 

If the proposed directive is adopted, the nutrition labelling would introduce:

• Mandatory front-of pack-labelling for a set of nutrients: energy, total fat, saturated fats, carbohydrates, sugars and salt;
• a minimum font size of 3 mm for lettering on the labels, and; 
• mandatory back-of-the-pack guideline daily amounts (GDAs) estimating average requirements for energy for men and women aged between 19-50, of normal weight and fitness (there are currently no GDAs for children).

The scope of these labelling requirements concern processed food and drinks products and exclude non-processed food such as meat and vegetables. Presently, alcoholic drinks, except mixed products - qualified as alcopops are omitted from the proposal.

It is reported that food manufacturers and retailers reveal deep concerns on the proposal that also summarized in the article. 

The subsequent steps of the proposal are as follows:

• The proposal is now forwarded to Council and Parliament under the co-decision procedure.
• Depending on the length of discussions in Parliament and Council, the proposal could be adopted before the next elections in June 2009.
• A three-year (five-year for SMEs) transition period is foreseen for industry once the legislation has entered into force.