The Berlin-headquartered Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut (dti) has raised objections to a proposal that the country of origin be spelled out on packages of frozen fruits and vegetables sold in Germany. In the wake of a 2012 scandal involving frozen strawberries from China, a conference of state and federal consumer protection ministers proposed such a law.
This, the dti contends, “would lead to a flood of declaration changes, for which there is presently no technical solution and which would lead to increased packaging costs.” Food safety and quality, it says, is already a requirement, regardless of the place of origin, and international efforts to improve food safety would be a better solution. Many producers, it maintains, already provide such consumer information voluntarily by Internet or telephone.
