Sweden pushes for carbon food labels

Swedish government pushes carbon labels for food

Calorie-counting could soon give way to carbon-counting, if Swedish trends catch on globally. Sweden’s National Food Administration has issued dietary guidelines that consider both the nutritional benefit of particular foods, and their environmental impact.

A global first in consumer guidance has seen foods assessed according to their climate impact, pesticide use and biodiversity effect. The guidelines favour carrots over greenhouse-grown tomatoes, and rapeseed oil over palm, due to the latter’s impact on rainforest destruction. Dan Crossley, Principal Sustainability Advisor at Forum for the Future, calls the initiative “a good way to try to align the climate and health agendas”.

The guidance isn’t mandatory. But a hands-on response from retailers may make this more than just another government directive. Burger chain Max and farming group Lantmännen have taken the cue to carbon-label popular products, with Max including a breakdown of the carbon impacts of transport and livestock. And a joint initiative between the Federation of Swedish Farmers, two food-labelling organisations and various dairy and meat co-operatives is now developing a label to highlight products with a lower carbon impact. 

While the initiative encourages consumers to include carbon in their choices, the big impact will be for business. “Manufacturers will be under pressure from retailers [to edit out unsustainable choices]”, said Dr. Paul Upham of the University of Manchester.
– Nick Chan

19 January 2010

Nick Chan