144 The nutrition handbook for food processors diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds, and there are therefore differences in local food supply and eating patterns. If criticism is due, it should perhaps be aimed at those authorities whose job it is to explain the existence and meaning of legislation in lay terms, but this too can be a complex communication issue and many attempts have been made to bridge the gap between legislator and con- sumer, and in the case of nutrition information are still on-going. This aspect wi be developed later 6.2 Current EU nutrition information Legislation on nutrition labelling was developed as a means of providing consumers with information about the nutrient content of the foods they were choosing in a standardised format recognisable across the European Community, thereby also promoting the freedom of movement of goods in the Single market. the principal EU legislative instrument in this area , trition Labelling Directive. An essential part of the philosophy behind the Nu the growing recognition of the link between diet and health and the need to encourage consumers to make an informed choice about the foods they consume. It was considered that knowl- edge of the basic principles of nutrition and the provision of nutrition labelling would contribute significantly in this and act as a tool in the nutrition education of the public. To this end, it was deemed that the information provided should be simple and easily understood, with a standardised format that would allow comparison of one product with another. This means that the dual principles underlying EU legislation on nutrition labelling are consumer information and education and the removal of technical barriers to trade As usual in the development of harmonised legislation, one of the drivin forces was the divergence in national legislation that risked causing reciprocal barriers to trade after completion of the Single Market on 31 December 1992. In the UK there was no specific legislation on nutrition information, but the Food Advisory Committee(FAC)had issued guidelines on nutrition labelling, which had been widely adopted by the industry. The FAC was abolished in December 2001 because its functions have now been taken over by the board of the Food Standards Agency, but its advice at the time in question carried considerable weight. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food(MAFF) indicated its intention to introduce national legislation on the compulsory indication of fat content. This spurred the European Commission into pushing its own proposals forward, on the basis that the UKs freedom to legislate in this area was con- strained by its Community obligations under the Food Labelling Directive, 79/112/EEC(updated and consolidated in 2000 as Directive 2000/13/EC Work on European harmonisation began in 1988, when the Commission put forward two linked proposals, one on compulsory nutrition labelling and the other Official Joumal of the european nies,No.L276/40-44,6.10.90diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds, and there are therefore differences in local food supply and eating patterns. If criticism is due, it should perhaps be aimed at those authorities whose job it is to explain the existence and meaning of legislation in lay terms, but this too can be a complex communication issue and many attempts have been made to bridge the gap between legislator and con￾sumer, and in the case of nutrition information are still on-going. This aspect will be developed later. 6.2 Current EU nutrition information Legislation on nutrition labelling was developed as a means of providing consumers with information about the nutrient content of the foods they were choosing in a standardised format recognisable across the European Community, thereby also promoting the freedom of movement of goods in the Single Market. An essential part of the philosophy behind the Nutrition Labelling Directive, the principal EU legislative instrument in this area,1 was the growing recognition of the link between diet and health and the need to encourage consumers to make an informed choice about the foods they consume. It was considered that knowl￾edge of the basic principles of nutrition and the provision of nutrition labelling would contribute significantly in this and act as a tool in the nutrition education of the public. To this end, it was deemed that the information provided should be simple and easily understood, with a standardised format that would allow comparison of one product with another. This means that the dual principles underlying EU legislation on nutrition labelling are consumer information and education and the removal of technical barriers to trade. As usual in the development of harmonised legislation, one of the driving forces was the divergence in national legislation that risked causing reciprocal barriers to trade after completion of the Single Market on 31 December 1992. In the UK there was no specific legislation on nutrition information, but the Food Advisory Committee (FAC) had issued guidelines on nutrition labelling, which had been widely adopted by the industry. The FAC was abolished in December 2001 because its functions have now been taken over by the Board of the Food Standards Agency, but its advice at the time in question carried considerable weight. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) indicated its intention to introduce national legislation on the compulsory indication of fat content. This spurred the European Commission into pushing its own proposals forward, on the basis that the UK’s freedom to legislate in this area was con￾strained by its Community obligations under the Food Labelling Directive, 79/112/EEC (updated and consolidated in 2000 as Directive 2000/13/EC). Work on European harmonisation began in 1988, when the Commission put forward two linked proposals, one on compulsory nutrition labelling and the other 144 The nutrition handbook for food processors 1 Official Journal of the European Communities, No. L 276/40-44, 6.10.90