As the war in Ukraine rages on, food manufacturers are finding themselves having to start to substitute ingredients that used to be imported from Ukraine. With its significant production of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil, Ukraine’s agribusiness is one of the largest in the world. As such, the country accounts for 50% of global exports and 90% of European imports of sunflower oil.
However, because of the war, Ukrainian authorities have introduced quotas on some exports. These quotas have had an immediate effect on food companies in the European Union. Due to the shortage of certain ingredients, food business operators have had to find substitutes for their recipes. Given the strict European labelling and food safety rules, changing an ingredient is not trivial.
In the European Union, Regulation 1169/2011 on food information to consumers (“FIC Regulation”) sets the general principle of EU food law. The Regulation seeks to guarantee consumers their right to information by establishing the general principles, requirements and responsibilities for the labelling of foodstuffs they consume. The foundation of the Regulation is to enshrine consumer information, food safety and transparency throughout the food chain.
Regrettably, the FIC Regulation does not have any emergency measures set in place to deal with food supply crisis, which means that companies can find themselves in a grey area. Due to the current situation, food companies have encountered difficulties in the production of certain foods, notably due to a shortage of sunflower oil. As a result, food business operators have omitted or, in most cases, substituted, ingredients from the recipe. For instance, sunflower oil has been replaced with palm or soybean oil. Substituting ingredients without labelling is a breach of the FIC Regulation. Not only the ingredient list will no longer be accurate, but there could be a risk for consumers.
Flexibility in Labelling
In the absence of any force majeure clause, it is up to national authorities to adopt measures allowing food business operators to derogate from the FIC Regulation. They seem to have taken stock of these issues and several Member States have allowed temporary derogations.
The Irish Food Safety Authority was one of the first to issue guidance on food labelling flexibility. It considers that, given the stakes, the use of additional stickers is an acceptable option in the short term, provided that such information is clear and intelligible and does not compromise the safety of the consumer. The authority foresees that food business operators must review their HAACP plans and make necessary adjustments to address potential hazards where ingredients have been substituted.
In France, the DGCCRF recently announced that some flexibility would be allowed in the implementation of labelling requirements. In case the substitute would present a risk to the consumer (such as allergens), the ingredient substitution must be directly informed on the label. This also applies to products where the claim would no longer be respected, such as “GMO-free” or “organic”. For other products, operators wishing to reformulate a recipe must apply to the DGCCRF for an exemption. They will have two months from 26 April to put the word “DEROG” on their packaging.
The authorities, therefore, make a clear distinction between substitutes that could harm consumers and others, by enforcing stricter measures for the former. This flexibility is necessary to ensure timely responses to protect European businesses, provided, of course, that consumer safety is always respected.
No Delay of Green Deal
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has insisted the Green Deal, which contains the landmark Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, will remain a key priority despite the conflict in Ukraine. The war has triggered the third global food crisis in 15 years, with supplies of wheat, cereals, and edible oils particularly impacted. It’s estimated around 20 million tonnes of wheat has been trapped in Ukraine since its neighbour’s invasion.
The two countries provide up to a third of the world’s grain exports. Ukraine’s grain exports have fallen from around five million to between 200,000 to one million tonnes per month since the start of the crisis. European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen has accused Russia of deliberately hoarding and blocking food supplies to drive up prices and “blackmail” countries to end their sanctions.
The situation has caused concerns among some that the Commission will, under the influence of certain lobby groups, water down its sustainability strategy to focus on ramping up productivity in the short term. For example, The European Commission is reportedly amenable to a German proposal to delay new EU rules on crop rotation in order to increase wheat production. Diverse crop rotations can help strengthen the resilience of agricultural soil. But postponing the rules would be a “pragmatic solution” to allow farmers to “strengthen global supply without worsening other crises like the climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss ,” said German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir.
In a press briefing on 30 May, Wojciechowski called the conflict in Ukraine a “seismic event” from which the tremors will be felt for ” many years to come”. But he told journalists that efforts to fill gaps in global supply chains can go hand in hand with the Commission’s green goals to introduce new legislation on the circular economy, building renovation, biodiversity, farming and innovation.
“Let me be very clear,” he said. “The war in Ukraine cannot be a justification to delay the Green Deal. “Right now, we are focused on relieving the suffering,” he stated. “On helping Ukraine face the aggressor. On deeds, not words. These things are essential but let me be very clear: none of them are incompatible with ambitious action on our environment.”
The food security challenge created by the conflict is “global not local”, he claimed, meaning Europe is not facing food shortages. Logistics, not production, will therefore help address the problem. The EU is accordingly building “solidarity lanes” to facilitate food exports from Ukraine.
“Increasing production within the EU would not be the magic solution to help our international partners,” Wojciechowski noted. “What we need is to show solidarity towards the most vulnerable countries and to increase local sustainable food production, so as to reduce structural dependencies.
“Basically speaking, we cannot resign from the Green Deal. The Green Deal is not dead… If we want to eat healthy food, if we want to drink pure water, we have to change our approach and the way we perceive our nature, our landscape”. The issue of if the Commission’s environmental commitments will be watered down by the ramifications of the conflict in Ukraine is unlikely to recede any time soon, however.
France and Label Changes
France has announced changes to rules food manufacturers must follow on recipe labelling as the Ukraine war puts pressure on sunflower oil supplies. Food companies selling in France that alter the make-up of products will have six months to fully reflect any changes. However, they must give consumers a basic indication of any recipe change within two months.
And, for consumers concerned about food allergies, manufacturers will have to immediately affix a sticker on the product or make a marking near the list of ingredients. Information on products that have had recipe changes will be available on the website of the DGCCRF, France’s consumer protection agency. Ukraine is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil. Russia lies second on the list.
Food manufacturers across the world have started to make changes to recipes as the war hits the trade in sunflower oil and pushes up prices from other sources. French consumer watchdog UFC-Que Choisir said the at least two months of leeway given to manufacturers in the absence of a health risk meant information in stores would be “too general” and would “not allow the customer to identify the modified products when shopping”. As in other countries in Europe, there have been gaps on shelves that usually stock sunflower oil.
In the UK, Tesco this week joined Morrisons and Waitrose in limiting the purchases of cooking oil to two a person. Indonesia announced curbs on its exports of palm oil. The restrictions have started and no end date has been given. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil.
This month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported world commodity prices reached new record heights in March, with cooking oils from sunflower to palm, soy and rapeseed all rising. The FAO said palm, soy and rapeseed oil prices were buoyed by rising global import demand in the wake of the disruption to sunflower oil supplies. World palm oil prices were also pushed upwards by “lingering supply tightness in major producing countries”.
Need for Quick Change in Labelling is Problematic
The crisis in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia and Belarus, is resulting in food companies having to omit or substitute certain ingredients or change the manufacturing process or recipe, at short notice. A need to quickly switch ingredients could mean firms may not be able to comply with EU food labelling rules in regulation 1169/2011, and the requirements on the list of ingredients, nutrition declaration or country-of-origin indications.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is allowing use of additional stickers or inkjet printing to be put over existing food labels. Guidance reminds firms to keep traceability records and update HACCP plans where ingredients have been substituted. Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency said that some products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead contain refined rapeseed oil.
Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency said that some products labelled as containing sunflower oil may instead contain refined rapeseed oil. Most of the UK’s sunflower oil comes from Ukraine with Russia making up a substantial portion of the rest. Firms are reporting that supplies of sunflower oil are likely to run out in a few weeks.
Some food manufacturers have replaced sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil before being able to make the change on the label. Emily Miles, FSA chief executive, said the agency has been trying to understand the interim measures needed to make sure foods like crisps, breaded fish, frozen vegetables and chips remain on sale. “We have looked at the immediate food safety risk of substituting sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil — particularly to people with a food allergy – -and it is very low. We know allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are very rare and — if they do occur — are mild.”
Spain is one of a number of European countries that have introduced temporary measures. The Swedish Food Agency said companies that need to make quick changes should be able to use pre-printed packaging without modifying the label, until it runs out. But they have to show the shortage is due to what is going on in Ukraine, that substitute ingredients cannot cause allergies, incorrectly labelled packaging is replaced as soon as possible, and consumers should be informed in another way.
In Denmark, problems have arisen for companies with the supply of items including flaxseed, sunflower oil and lectin. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has temporarily accepted that until already printed packaging is used up, some of the labels may be incorrect. This is conditional on the legislation around allergens being complied with and consumers are not misled.
There is no requirement to put a sign in shops with the change of the ingredient list on a given food. However, in cases where the change is judged to be “significant,” it may be necessary to put up a notice to avoid misleading consumers. Food producers are responsible for this assessment.
The Finnish Food Agency said companies must report changes in ingredients and substitute raw materials on their website and provide information to the trade. Written records of affected food must also be kept separately as part of self-monitoring. Measures will remain in force until Sept. 30, 2022. The EU Commission believes food security in the region is not at stake but prices will increase and is against countries protecting domestic supply with export restrictions or bans.
