Alerted by many consumers, Foodwatch is launching a new campaign to denounce certain practices of major brands and retail chains. “Full of emptiness”, that’s how they qualify these disproportionately large packaging when they only contain a small amount of food. Foodwatch went to supermarkets to compare products with each other, showing that some brands manage to fill the packaging to the top or almost, where others clearly abuse and mislead the customer. Seven major brands and retailer chains are thus singled out, with packaging sometimes not even containing half the food it could contain.

Visually, the observation is relentless. Foodwatch thus shows the package as it is presented on the shelf and then cuts the packaging, revealing the sometimes ridiculous amount of product they contain. If offering unnecessarily large packaging is not illegal, it is time to put an end to these abusive practices, judges the organization. “Some manufacturers pride themselves on a rather indecent environmental policy in the face of the observation that we are making: almost all departments are affected by this excess packaging and these products ‘full of emptiness’. Consumers are fed up with worrying about themselves. to have and, in addition, very logically want to reduce their waste. This is an environmental concern but also a financial one. Because the products are relatively expensive if we look at their price per kilo “, points out Camille Dorioz, campaign manager at Foodwatch.

Example: these Barilla pasta, sold in an imposing packaging which contains… 60% vacuum. Lipton and its tea is also targeted, with 43% vacuum, as are certain brands whose packaging containing 50 to 68% vacuum has been identified.

A petition has been launched to put pressure on seven major brands to commit to reducing the use and size of packaging for their products to an absolute minimum.