PRESS RELEASE: The European parliament must protect children consistently against dangerous acrylamide!
PRESS RELEASE, Tuesday, 6th October 2020 – Brussels
The European parliament must protect children consistently against dangerous acrylamide!
The European Parliament will vote today in the plenary session on an objection to the establishment of maximum residue limits for the pollutant acrylamide. Acrylamide develops, if carbohydrate-rich food is strongly heated up. It is carcinogenic, triggers mutations and is suspected of being toxic to reproduction.
The European Commission has proposed new limit values for acrylamide in food. However, these are not strict enough to protect babies and small children. That is why Jutta Paulus, on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group, has lodged an objection. This is because the new values exceed what is technically feasible and are limited to products explicitly labelled as “baby food”. Nevertheless, marketing tricks are also used to formally advertise cookies and rusks for children that are not marketed as baby food. The European consumer protection organization BEUC has found this in a series of tests. Of cookies consumed by children under the age of three, almost two thirds exceed the limits set for children.
The Environment Committee has already supported Jutta Paulus’ objection. The vote in plenary will take place on Tuesday, October 6. The result of the vote is expected on Wednesday, 7 October at 09:00.
Green MEP Jutta Paulus comments:
„We must protect our children from cancer! The limit values proposed by the European Commission for the dangerous acrylamide in baby food, cookies and rusks are not sufficient. Infants and children are particularly at risk from this substance due to their lower body weight and faster metabolism.
A colourful packaging that is attractive for children deceives parents into thinking that many foods are not declared for small children at all and exceed the limit values. These tricks must not be legitimized! I therefore call on the European Commission to submit a new proposal. I appeal to all my colleagues in the European Parliament to vote for my objection and for the protection of children.”