CIAA welcomes the EFSA Opinion (adopted on 13 March 2009) on the ‘Review of labelling reference intake values’. The EFSA Opinion endorses the science underpinning GDAs and reinforces what has been proposed already within the scope of the European Commission Proposal for a Regulation on food information to consumers with regard to the proposed reference values for the GDA labelling scheme.

The EU food and drink industry welcomes the EFSA evaluation and confirmation of the values with regard to energy (that is, based on an average daily intake of 2000kcal, with total fat accounting for 70g and total sugars for 90g) and these are already being rolled out by industry on a voluntary basis across the EU by companies, retailers and SMEs alike. Regarding reference values for carbohydrates, industry supports the 260g suggested by EFSA, which is in fact closer to that proposed by industry than the 230g suggested in the Commission proposal.

The GDA labelling scheme provides the consumer with at-a-glance information on the nutritional values of food products and can help to convey the relative significance of food as a source of energy and nutrients in the context of a total daily diet. "

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902511922.htm