What information can be already seen on food packaging?

M: The carbon footprint of our food is under closer scrutiny than ever. Last week the government unveiled a plan to introduce labels on all products, showing the greenhouse gas emissions created by their production, transport and eventual disposal, similar to the calorie count figures already seen on food packaging. The message was that food miles, which consumers are increasingly taking notice of, are not an accurate way of judging the total environmental impact. For example, fruit and vegetables trucked in from Spain could actually have a lower carbon footprint than those grown in UK greenhouses which use up lots of energy for heating.
    "When the concept of food miles was originally launched it was about so much more than carbon emissions", says Vicky Hird, senior food campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "It was about fairness in the supply chain and about reconnecting with your food. Now it seems to have been simplified to be just about climate change and it’s not always the best way of working out a product’s true effect on the environment".
    To address this problem, the environment minister, Ian Pearson, is going to work with the Carbon Trust and BSI British’ Standards over the next 18 months to develop a benchmark for carbon measurements for goods and services. "The idea of food miles is starting to resonate with consumers, but what we’ve found is the distance a product has travelled is important but so are lots of other factors across the chain", says Euan Murray, strategy manager at the Carbon Trust. "During our research we’ve seen that in some cases the distance travelled can be a poor indicator of a product’s carbon footprint, so just because something has come from abroad doesn’t necessarily mean it is worse for the environment".