OEITFL welcomes proposals for an EU-wide School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme_9.07.2008

The European fruit and vegetable processing industry represented by OEITFL1 warmly welcomes yesterday’s proposals to set up an EU-wide School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme in the overall aim to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children.

As fruit and vegetable consumption data show, one additional portion of fruit and/or vegetables can represent an important supplement to their daily diet. Furthermore any such scheme has a didactic function and teaches children about healthy eating habits.

The processing industry particularly welcomes that the proposed scope of the scheme includes both fresh and processed fruit and vegetables.
Fruit and vegetables – both fresh and processed - are known for their health-promoting properties, and are associated with protection against a broad range of chronic human diseases, like cancer and heart disease, and play a crucial role in the fight against obesity.

Processed fruit and vegetables are a good source of vitamins, antioxidants, dietary fibre and phenolic compounds2

• They can thus contribute in a significant manner to the intake of essential nutrients in our daily diet; and to comply with public health recommendations - which is why they are included in national “5-a-day” schemes and are part of other national nutrition plans
• processed products comply with highest quality and hygiene standards,
• they bring flexibility to the scheme due to their strong convenience factors such as long shelf life; availability all year round and at stable prices
• they can contribute to the overall goals of existing schemes:
  • enabling children to discover new tastes and get access to certain new types of fruit and vegetables and their mixes
  • changing children's eating habits and raising their awareness of what constitutes a portion of fruit and vegetables

OEITFL reiterates its supports for the Commission approach to leave flexibility to Member States to allow for diverging national nutritional recommendations and cultural habits.