Control in the Label: Self-Declared, Certified, Accredited?

Abstract

In the EU, the number of voluntary food schemes has grown rampantly over the past 20 years. From a consumer perspective, what was initially praised as a solution to the information asymmetry problem of credence goods soon became a problem of itself: consumers do not know what the various food scheme labels mean, and especially whether and how they are subject to compliance control (self-declaration, certification, and accreditation). In this contribution, we argue that it is necessary to examine how messages about compliance control are communicated to the consumer on pack and how they affect consumers, and show that on pack communication of food scheme labels offers significant opportunities for influencing consumer perceptions. Consequently, food businesses are under a legal duty not to mislead consumers and to ensure that information is sufficiently clear, including elements indicating the control a scheme is subject to.