Who Came First? The Egg or the Carton? An Analysis of Organic Packaging for Italian Retail Chain Esselunga - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 111

fall within the FDA guidelines (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2010a , b ). 3
The FDA food labels are intended to improve the American diet (Caswell and
Padberg 1992 ). In Italy, food-labeling laws must be in alignment with the European
Union. In case “EU law may be incomplete or absent, the law of each member
state applies” (Foreign Agricultural Service 2009 ), thus each European country shall
have the liberty to extend EU food labeling regulations. In Australia, the Australian
Trade Practices Commission's (TPC) has designed laws to control green marketing
claims. Similarly, in the United States the US Federal Trade Commission has issued
guidelines for firms to follow when making green marketing claims, whether for
dishwasher soaps or green automobiles (Peattie and Crane 2005 ; “Part 260 -Guides
for the use of environmental marketing claims” 2012 ). In general, governmental
regulations aim to protect citizens, providing them with the opportunities to evaluate
the safety of the product(s) for sale. In relation to environmental marketing, these
laws in accordance with Peattie and Crane ( 2005 ) are designed to protect citizens
by reducing “production of harmful good or by-products; modify consumer and
industry's use and/or consumption of harmful goods; or ensure that all types of
consumers have the ability to evaluate the environmental composition of goods”
(p. 4). In other terms, green labels should identify the processes of production,
distribution, and consumption of goods in such a way for consumers to make a
well-informed decision.
With special attention to organic marketing of foods, companies must adhere to
a variety of regulations ranging from organic farming/agricultural laws to organic
marketing of products to food labeling rules, which apply to all type of food
items. 4 For example, food information on packages in Italy must be displayed in
the form of labels, packages and information must be presented following specific
guidelines and products must display nutritional labeling specifications (European
Commission - Agriculture and Rural Development 2009 ). In particular, Italian
labeling regulations for organic produces rely on three elements: (1) the clarification
of information, (2) the transparency of organic procedures through text and images,
and (3) stimulating the adaptation of organic processes in the food market:
To provide clarity to the consumers in the entire market it is necessary to make mandatory
the use of the UE logo for all organic food produces that are prepackaged and have
been produced in the European Community [ ::: ] In addition, with the aim of informing
consumers of the transparency of the market and to stimulate the use of organic ingredients,
3 FDA guidelines only apply to processed food. A company is required to provide product
information only when health claims are made, but the agency has never issued formal rules about
the term. It is the manufacture's responsibility to assure that health claims meet the FDA guidelines.
In case a health claim is made the agency evaluates the credibility of the claim based on the totality
of publicly available scientific evidence.
4 For more information on U.S. and European organic agricultural laws please refer to the
“Federal Organic Food Production Act of (OFPA)” ( 1990 ), the EC 834/2007 and EC 889/2008
(European Commission 2007 , 2008 ). See also Agricoltura e Sviluppo Rurale at http://ec.europa.