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Labels for Sustainable Food Products

Eco labels are used to work with manufacturers to give consumers more clarity about the product and,
for example, how it is made, the working conditions of workers, and transportation routes. This infor-
mation can relate to ethical to purely ecological characteristics These labels are voluntary. According
to a Forbes survey, 88% of consumers consciously choose brands to make more sustainable choices.
But it's not that easy: although there are currently many eco-labels (and the trend is rising), they usu-
ally refer to only one or a few individual aspects of the supply chain and all apply their own standards.
„A report from the Changing Markets Foundation found that “despite the proliferation of different
initiatives, there is no overarching scheme that satisfactorily addresses sustainability performance
across the whole supply chain”. As many of these eco-labels only cover one aspect of the supply chain,
they lack full transparency into the life-cycle of a product and its total impact.“

To address the issue of labels, the Website https://www.siegelklarheit.de/en/ has made it
its mission to list all labels in a transparent and comprehensible manner.

EU Organic Logo

9 „The European Union organic logo gives a coherent visual identity to organic
products produced in the EU. This makes it easier for consumers to identify
organic products and helps farmers to market them across the entire EU.
The organic logo can only be used on products that have been certified as
organic by an authorised control agency or body. This means that they have
fulfilled strict conditions on how they must be produced, processed, transported and stored. The logo
can only be used on products when they contain at least 95% organic ingredients and additionally,
respect further strict conditions for the remaining 5%. The same ingredient cannot be present in orga-
8
nic and non-organic form.”
More information: https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/farming/organic-farming/orga-
nic-logo_en

Bio-Siegel

„All agricultural products produced according to the requirements outli-
ned in the EU Regulation on Organic Farming , as referenced in the German
Organic Food Labelling Act, are permitted to use the Bio-Siegel label. At
least 95% of of the agricultural ingredients contained in processed products
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must come from organic production.”
More information: https://www.oekolandbau.de/en/bio-siegel/

8 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/farming/organic-farming/organic-logo_en
9 https://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabel/bio-siegel