Why might bagged salad disappear? The EU stop to packs under 1.5 kilos – Corriere.it

The European Union has approved a new regulation on packaging which, as Coldiretti reports, risks making bagged salad, baskets of strawberries, cherry tomato and net oranges, but also magnum bottles disappear from supermarket shelves of wine. According to the association, which launches the alarm on the occasion of the opening of Tuttofood in Milan where the “Italian food under attack” stand was also opened to discover live the threats to Made in Italy at the table brought by the EU, this could have serious consequences on the consumption habits of Italians and on the balance sheets of agri-food companies.

Conservation and waste

The regulation on packaging provides for a stop to single-use packages for fruit and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kilograms, considered superfluous by the EU. Coldiretti explains that this choice involves a series of problems from the point of view of sanitation, conservation and wastei, which could increase, as costs for consumers and producers could also increase. These packages, especially during transport, tend to protect the product inside.

Reduction of consumption

The risk is also that of a negative effect on consumption, considering that these packaged products – from salads to fruit – are deeply rooted in the eating habits of Italians. In 2022, according to a Coldiretti analysis on Istat data, a drop of 8% has already been recorded for fruit, while for vegetables 10%. The result is that just 16.8% of Italians consumed fruit and vegetables at least four times a day, with a sharp decrease compared to the 2015-2018 period when the percentage was 20%.

Standardization of bottles

The EU directive also imposes the standardization of wine bottles and the reduction of their weight, eliminating the magnum format but also the more “important” types, such as those necessary for great aged wines, from Barolo to Amarone. From 1 January 2030 10% of alcoholic beverages on the market will have to use packaging inserted in reuse systems and from 1 January 2040 the threshold will rise to 25%. For wines, except sparkling wines, the thresholds vary from 5% to 15%. A real upheaval, according to Coldiretti, which in the case of glass also risks nullifying the work carried out in the context of recycling.

The export

Coldiretti denounces that, due to its structure, the European regulation would affect the two Made in Italy sectors with the highest export percentages. Sales of wine on foreign markets, for example, in 2022 touched the record value of 8 million euros, while those of fruit and vegetables reached 5.7 billion, according to the association’s analysis on Istat data, to which are added another 4.8 billion of processed fruit and vegetables, the one most exposed to changes in terms of packaging. While sharing the need to ensure greater sustainability of consumption, Coldiretti therefore asks to correct the current proposal, eliminating the bans for the single use of fruit and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kilos and recalibrating the measures for the wine sector so as not to jeopardize the quality of the productions and the wider choice for consumers.