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FOOD AND DRINK

How France’s new food industry laws will affect you

The French government has announced a new raft of food industry laws that look set to change the daily habits of French consumers and which ministers hopes will improve the lives of the country's farmers. This is how it will affect you.

Published: 22 May 2018 16:58 CEST
How France’s new food industry laws will affect you
Photo: AFP
Some of the changes included in the “loi alimentaton” (food industry bill) can definitely be considered a good thing for health conscious consumers while others could be bad news for price conscious shoppers.
 
France's Agriculture Minister Stéphane Travert said the new bill, which must pass parliament, will “strike a balance between commercial relations in the agricultural and food sector and a healthy and sustainable food industry.”
 
Here are some of the main changes that are set to directly affect French consumer.
 
Organic products in schools
 
By 2022, meals provided by catering companies in public places such as schools, universities and canteens will have to have been made with at least 50 percent organic products or ones that take into account the preservation of the environment.
 
This has long been the intention of successive governments in France but according to Europe1 radio little progress has been made. 
 
Obligations for private catering companies to fight against food waste will also be extended.
 
No more “steak” vegetarian products
 
Manufacturers of soybean steaks or tofu steaks will be given a deadline to repackage their products because their names are deemed erroneous by the government which wants to ban misleading commercial practices.
 
Under the measure proposed by a farmer MP, food producers will no longer have the right to use “steak”, “fillet”, “bacon”, “sausage” or any other meaty term to describe products that are not partly or wholly composed of meat.
 
 
France to ban 'misleading' veggie steaks and sausages
Photo: paulbrighton/Depositphotos
 
Label French Honey
 
Apparently only a quarter of the honey consumed in France is produced on French territory and the government wants for the country of origin of each honey to be clearly shown on the label. 
 
Their hope is that it encourages French honey lovers to buy 'Made in France' honey which would benefit local producers.
 
Stop the price wars
 
In an effort to stop a price war that is “destroying value and impoverishing producers,” the government has announced that it will be reshaping the way discounts on food products are organized (Hopefully better than the recent Nutella ones that ended in riots and fisticuffs).
 
In other words there will no more mass-discount promotions.
 
For instance, there will be no more “buy one get one free” type offers, and no more half price or even 70% off promotions either.
 
“Today, it is the distributors who pull in most of the value of products and who gain from the margins,” said the Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Travert, suggesting that the promotions penalize the producers.
 
In addition, the government will introduce a higher resale threshold for wholesale distribution at a loss of 10 percent, meaning supermarkets will be obliged to sell a food product for the minimum of the price they bought it, plus 10 percent.
 
Opponents fear this will mean a price increase for consumers, but this idea was dismissed by Stéphane Travert, Minister of Agriculture, who says that the consumer is “ready to pay a few cents extra if he/she knows that the product bought will pay farmers better.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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SCHOOLS

Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

School children in France are entitled to a lunchtime meal of three, or even four courses – but what if you prefer to provide meals yourself? 

Published: 22 May 2024 12:24 CEST
Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

French school meals are, famously, pretty good – children get a three or even four-course meal of properly prepared dishes and the menu (including cheese course) is usually published in the local town newsletter so everyone can see the types of meals being served.

The concept of a proper meal at lunchtime is an important one. “The diet of a school-age child is essential for their growth, mental development and learning abilities,” the French Education Ministry says in a preamble about school meals on its website. “It must be balanced, varied and distributed throughout the day: for example 20 percent of total energy in the morning, 40 percent at midday, 10 percent at four o’clock and 30 percent in the evening.”

And it’s not all about nutrition, the social aspect of sitting together and eating a meal is also important – the ministry continues: “Mealtime is an opportunity for students to relax and communicate. It should also be a time for discovery and enjoyment.”

All schools provide meals in a canteen and most pupils take up the opportunity – however it’s also possible for pupils to go home at lunchtime so that they can eat lunch with their parents.

The idea of taking in a packed lunch (panier-repas) is much less common in France – but is it actually banned?

The rules on lunch

At écoles (up to age 11), the local authority or établissement public de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) is responsible for providing quality school meals. This generally involves meals being provided via a central kitchen, and then delivered to the school’s kitchen, where it can be kept warm, or reheated as necessary.

The system is slightly different in collèges and lycées (attended by children aged 11 and up). In those establishments, catering falls into the purview of the wider département or region – and is routinely managed directly by individual establishments, which will have catering staff on site to prepare meals. Often, meal services are outsourced to private businesses, which operate the kitchens.

There are various rules and regulations in place regarding what food is offered, and how long a child has to eat – which is, in part, why the school lunch period is so long. Children must be allowed a 30-minute period to eat their meal, from the moment they sit down with it at the table. 

Then, they’re given time to play and relax before afternoon classes start.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

At a minimum lunch must include a main course with a side dish, a dairy-based product, as well as a starter and/or a dessert. Meals must also, the government says, be composed of 50 percent sustainable quality products (including 20 percent organic).

Some local authorities go further and serve only or mostly food that is organic, locally sourced or both.

Water and bread must be freely available, but salt and condiments can only be added in preparation – no sauce bottles or salt and pepper on the tables. 

Daily menus are generally available to view on school websites and many town newspapers or newsletters also publish them.

Parents pay a fee for the school lunch, which is calculated according to income and can be free in the case of low-income families.

Packed lunch

But what if your child doesn’t like the school lunches and you don’t have time to pick them up, cook a full lunch and take them back in the afternoon everyday? The obvious solution would seem to be to send them in with a packed lunch, as is common in the UK and USA.

In theory this is possible, but only in certain circumstances and with very strict rules and caveats. 

The Ministry, in a written response to a Senator’s question in 2019, said: “The use of packed lunches [home-supplied meals] by primary school students can provide an alternative to school meals. This method of catering is authorised in particular for children with a medically established food allergy or intolerance, requiring an adapted diet.”

READ ALSO How to enrol a non-French speaking child in school in France

It added: “the preparation and use of packed lunches in schools must follow certain rules. First of all, it is important to respect the cold chain”.

The cold chain is a term applied to food handling and distribution – it’s usually used by food-preparation businesses, but in the context of a packed lunch it means that food prepared at home must be kept in appropriately cool conditions until it is ready to eat. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that the food is delivered to school in containers appropriate for the job (ie an insulated cool bag).

Once at the school, it is up to whoever manages the kitchen to ensure that food is properly reheated. This becomes the sticking point at which many parents’ requests to send their children to school with a packed lunch, rather than go to the canteen, or eat back at home, are refused.

The reheating concern suggests that schools are also expecting parents to prepare a proper meal – rather than just throwing some sandwiches and a cereal bar into a bag.

Unless there’s a genuine and proven health reason for your child to eat a home-prepared meal, most parents will probably find the school won’t budge on this – even in cases of a strike by kitchen staff or lunch monitors.

READ ALSO Just how much do private schools in France cost?

The Ministry’s written response explains: “[A]s this is an optional public service, the municipality can justify its refusal to admit the children concerned by objective material and financial constraints, such as the need to equip itself with additional refrigerators, or for additional supervisory staff to supervise them during lunch.”

As well as the practicalities, for some schools this is an equality issue – because of the varied fee structure for school lunches what happens in effect is that richer parents are subsidising a good quality lunchtime meal for poorer students in the class; if everyone brought in a packed lunch and therefore stopped paying the fee, the lower-income kids would miss out. 

What about allergies or other health issues?

Children with allergies or other health issues that require a particular diet must be accommodated. An individual meal plan – known as a projet d’accueil individualisé (PAI) can be set up. More details (in French) are available here, on the government’s website.

It also becomes easier for parents to provide home-produced meals in such instances. As ever, it is up to the parents to ensure any meals are appropriately packaged and transported to school.

Not all schools

Some individual schools in France do permit pupils to bring in meals from home. They must be taken to school in an appropriate cold-storage container, and they will be stored in the kitchen area until they are needed, when meals will – if necessary – be reheated.

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