I vending machines of food and drinks, as it is written, should offer consumers useful information to make informed and safe purchasing choices. The theme deserves further study, which is proposed here.
It is appropriate first of all examine how companies managing the sale of 'food & beverage'through the Automatic Distributors (DA), they enter public and private structures.
Vending machines in public facilities
The DAs are present in most public structures. Schools (1), hospitals, public administration offices, etc. In these cases, the DA companies present in each institution were chosen through public calls for tenders.
The disciplinary and the special tender specifications dictate the admission criteria and the requisites that the companies must have in order to access them. The composition of the products making up the offer is also specified in the announcement.
In practice, the offer must be composed of:
⁃ % organic food,
⁃ % gluten-free products;
⁃ % sugar-free foods;
⁃ etc.
The composition obviously it varies from call to call and from structure to structure. As well as the score that each drafting committee of the call assigns to the participants for the proposed composition of products varies.
The complexity it is remarkable, considering the enormous variety of products (organic, gluten-free, fruit, ...) available on the market. And the consequent possibility - for less correct managers - of introducing new references of lower quality, in the stages following the awarding of tenders, without incurring disputes.
The selection it should therefore be carried out a priori, introducing more restrictive criteria on the characteristics of the products to be included already in the drafting phase of the tenders. By requiring candidates to offer:
- to the contracting authority, the technical data sheets of all the products that will be inserted in the vending machines,
- to final consumers, all news relating to them. Which can be offered on touch screen of the most modern devices, or on special registers near the less recent ones.
Vending Machines in private facilities
Private structures where the DAs can be inserted are the most diverse. Premises of all kinds accessible to the public, from stations to sports and recreational centers, hotels, farms, including farms, private parking lots, condominiums, with no limits to the imagination.
The 'invisible hand of the market' dictates every rule, since the composition of the offer is in fact left to free negotiation between private individuals. Which in turn - except for the very rare cases of specific commitments of 'good practice' - have no restrictions whatsoever. (2)
The public interest promoting a balanced diet for citizens therefore gives way to the economic convenience of the contracting parties. The manager of the DA can thus decide to favor sugary and carbonated drinks over natural mineral water, the junk food to snacks with more balanced nutritional profiles.
And when everAmong the many commitments of all, the officials of the company that grants the spaces will take care of evaluating the adequacy of the products offered with respect to rarely defined objectives. In the face of agreements with managers that tend to be both binding, from the point of view of the spaces and times of permanence of the systems, as generic on the composition of the foods included therein.
Automatic dispensers h24
Business and recklessness dominate the direct management of the DA, by their managers, in public places of passage and 'automated shops'. In these cases the operator only needs a license for the administration of food and drink.
I only constraints are those of a health nature, which obviously include the information required by EU regulation 1169/11. Without prejudice to the possibility of introducing minimum requirements on the composition of the offer by local administrations. And that of imposing the effective visibility of the information required as mandatory on the labels of prepackaged foods, by the control authorities.
A fundamental role it is that of the authorities responsible for official public controls. Which are often, in the opinion of the experts, less rigorous than those performed in bars and other public establishments.
Vending machines, what scenario?
The consumer sector 'on the go' it is thriving and destined for further growth. The companies that manage the DA ensure the acceptance checks on the products (both food is beverage), scrupulously check the expiration dates of perishable products and guarantee the cold chain.
Two critical points you can see:
- in consumer information before the purchase choice. Where still many machines do not bear evidence of allergens present in foods sold in bulk (eg hot drinks). And the (almost?) Totality is still without news on prepackaged products,
- in the choice of products, which often neglects the nutritional profiles of snack, sweets and sugary drinks.
From words to deeds, the recommendations of the trade association CONFIDA - which limits itself to promoting no better defined 'healthy and balanced lifestyles'- are completely generic. While vending machines unfortunately abound with HFSS foods (High Fats, Sugars and Sodium), otherwise called junk food, or junk-food.
The opportunity must therefore be reiterated and indeed the need of consumers to be able to access healthy and balanced food also through vending machines. As well as knowing the precise characteristics - starting from the list of ingredients, allergens and nutritional table - of all the foods offered.
Dario Dongo and Arturo Sorrentino
Footnotes
(1) In lower secondary schools, the DAs should only be available to the teaching staff, secretariat, ATA staff, management. According to the recommendations of CONFIDA
(2) Without prejudice to the duties of information to the consumer provided for in reg. UE 1169/11, to which it is possible to derogate only for the purposes of domestic consumption
(3) Without prejudice to the obligation of traceability of foods included in the DA, by the managers, in accordance with the provisions of reg. CE 178/02, article 18
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
