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Foodwatch Names Eight Holiday Groceries for Misleading Labels and Packaging

Industry groups maintain the items comply with current rules, prompting Foodwatch to press for recipe or packaging changes.

Overview

  • The NGO’s December 9 list targets eight supermarket best‑sellers for the festive season, including products from E. Leclerc, Auchan, Delacre, Labeyrie, Lidl, Guyader, Monoprix and Le Richelieu.
  • Foodwatch cites opaque origin claims such as E. Leclerc’s “escargots de Bourgogne” listing ingredients from “Europe” and a Le Richelieu pâté highlighting “viande française” while the duck liver is sourced in and outside the EU.
  • Composition concerns include a Guyader three‑fish terrine where water is the top ingredient and “fish flesh” is unspecified despite prominent front‑of‑pack claims about salmon, Alaska pollock and hoki.
  • Additives flagged as risky include nitrite E250 in a Labeyrie foie gras block, seven additives including colorant E133 in a Fizzy Giga Twisty lollipop, and caramel color E150d among others in Auchan lumpfish roe.
  • Packaging practices are criticized with Lidl Favorina chocolates allegedly a quarter empty and Delacre’s festive biscuits using palm oil despite a premium presentation, while Foodwatch urges consumer reports via its online “Mur des arnaques.”