Matís (Matvælarannsóknir Íslands) is working on projects that will benefit Icelandic exporters in meeting Tesco's requirements for carbon dioxide labeling of food.
Tesco, one of the UK's largest retail chains, intends to carbon label all products sold in the chain's stores in order to enable consumers to obtain information on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that have accompanied the product's production, transport to the store and sales. This is Tesco's program aimed at responding to climate change.
Sveinn Margeirsson, department manager at Matís, says that the discussion on carbon dioxide labeling of food is part of the discussion on sustainable development. "Matís manages a West Nordic project called 'Sustainable Food Information', which aims to make it easier for companies in the food industry, such as fisheries companies, to demonstrate sustainability in fishing, processing and sales. Participants in the project will meet in Iceland on 14 June with Icelandic and Faroese fisheries companies, where the topic of discussion is the opportunities that lie in sustainable development for the Icelandic fisheries. "
Sustainable development important for the Icelandic food industry
"Sellers and consumers demand that it can be demonstrated that the production of marine products is in such a way that fish stocks are not depleted or that large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) accompany the production. The Tesco program is simply one of many examples of developments in this area. It is my opinion that sustainable development will be one of the key issues for the Icelandic food industry in the future, as we have more projects in this field in the pipeline. ”
Sveinn says that in this connection it is important to be able to show how the product has gone through the value chain, otherwise it is not possible to say how much the "life cycle" of the product has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
"It's not enough to focus on one link in the value chain. In the UK today, there is considerable debate about carbon dioxide emissions from the transport of organically grown fruit from distant parts of the world. Are the environmental effects of such foods positive or negative? One way to compare foods in this regard is the so-called life cycle analysis (LCA). In order to be able to apply it, it is necessary to be able to trace the product's path through the value chain, where Icelandic fisheries companies are well positioned. One of the practical possibilities of this strong position is to be able to demonstrate the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of the products. "