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Spain does battle with Europe over controversial wine labelling
The EU wants labels to warn drinkers of cancer risk from consuming wine
Spanish wine producers are up in arms over a suggestion by the European Union to include cancer warnings on all bottles, similar to the health cautions currently included on cigarette packets, though with less alarmist messages. The debate has arisen following a European parliament report on cancer which points out that alcohol is a “risk factor” and has proposed including this fact on all wine bottles.
Castilla-La Mancha, which is responsible for half of the wine production in all of Spain, has promised to “fight tooth and nail” against the measure, which it claims “is not based on scientific criteria”.
In addition, spokesperson for the regional government, Blanca Fernández, has railed against a proposal to increase taxes on wine in order to reduce its consumption. This would also be a blow to many parts of Spain whose economies rely largely on wine, such as the municipality of Jumilla in Murcia, famed for its wineries and wine tours in Murcia, famed for its wineries and wine tours.
“It is unfair because it has been shown in several studies that moderate consumption of wine, within the Mediterranean diet, has positive effects on health,” she said, adding that “wine is not carcinogenic and it is proven that it has tannins and positive effects on health if it is a good wine, as we mostly make in Castilla-La Mancha.”
And the battle doesn’t end there. Under its ‘Green Deal’ sustainability strategy, the EU plans to include essential oils such as lavender in the category of ‘chemicals,’ which would lead to any products which include it to be labelled as toxic. This would have a serious impact on the towns in the Castilla-La Mancha region of La Alcarria that in recent years have opted to cultivate lavender due to its high commercial demand.
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