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Happy cows, idyllic mountain landscapes and the highest quality: seals such as “Made in Austria” raise high expectations among consumers. Too high, as the Chamber of Labor (AK) Vienna explained. 800 consumers were interviewed by the Institute for Empirical Social Research (IFES). Central results: The seals bring competitive advantages because Austrian buyers prefer Austrian products. They also have higher expectations of quality. Where “Austria” is written on it, there is often far less of an Alpine republic inside than you might think.
However, the ideas of the interviewees, as far as the origin of the raw materials or the processing are concerned, often failed to reflect reality. In addition, many have different ideas about terms such as “regional”. Half imagine less than 100 kilometers – including feed. “A lot of information and pictures on the package and other advertising are potentially misleading,” says AK food expert Petra Lehner. Therefore, the AK Vienna demanded effective, independent controls and better, transparent rules, explained Gabriele Zgubic, head of the consumer protection department. Especially in terms of animal welfare, which is important to almost all respondents.
“These expectations should also be fulfilled with the appropriate application.” Animal welfare labeling could be based on the Nutri-Score model with a scale from green A (very good) to red E (minimum standard) and include various “pillars” such as husbandry, slaughter and transport.
Source: Nachrichten
