§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he plans to take to enable consumers, seeking to avoid the use of artificial flavourings, to make an informed choice in respect of the legal term flavour.
§ Mr. MacleanUnder existing food labelling legislation consumers can choose between food where the flavour is derived wholly or mainly from the named food, and those artificially flavoured. For example the descriptions "strawberry flavoured" or simply "strawberry" can only be used to describe food in the first category. "Strawberry flavour" may be used for food in the second category where the flavour does not come mainly from strawberries. The relevant provisions can be found in schedule 7 to the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 and are fully explained in our free booklet "Look at the Label".