European corporate food lobbies rule OK!

60% of EU lobbying consultancies have not registered almost two years after the European Commission launched a voluntary lobby transparency register. A survey by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) highlights the failure of the voluntary approach.

A few days after reading about the survey it was reported in the Financial Times that European food companies had successfully opposed a scheme to put icons denoting the amounts of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar on the front of packaging – a scheme backed by the less well-resourced consumer groups.