Development of a new Front of Package Nutrition Label : a case in the European Union

Sammanfattning: The current malnutrition epidemic calls for multiple solutions. The aim of the thesis is to identify the themes of the debate regarding the development of a single Front of-package nutrition label in the European Union. In order to reach the aim, a case study approach was used by looking at the positions of different stakeholders in Sweden, Italy as well as by looking at the debate inside of the European Commission and European Council of Ministries. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysis of documents. The results show that the stakeholders are trying to influence the process towards contrasting outcomes. Different stakeholders argue for very different ideal labelling schemes, while still agreeing on the need for harmonization. Major disagreement arise on whether the label should be voluntary, based on portion or 100 g and on the ideal label design. The type of view depends on the stakeholder role and on its previous experience with this type of labelling. The political debate inside of the European Union is still at an early stage and no consensus has yet been reached, the divergences between the representatives of the Member Countries partially deal with arguments similar to those exposed by the stakeholders. The patterns that emerge from the analysis of the different point of views can facilitate the cooperation between stakeholders and policy-makers.