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France Halts Food‑Nutrition‑Climate Strategy at Last Minute After PM Not Briefed

Lobbying concerns are mounting over softened wording on meat consumption, with ultra‑processed foods also in focus.

Overview

  • The Prime Minister’s office said Sébastien Lecornu had not been informed or able to validate the strategy, so publication was withheld.
  • The Agriculture, Health and Ecological Transition ministries had presented the plan to journalists earlier in the day before directing inquiries to Matignon after the reversal.
  • A draft seen by AFP would, for the first time, regulate the nutritional quality of meals in early‑childhood centers, nursing homes and prisons, but it includes no dedicated budget.
  • Following contentious talks, the text shifts from calling for a reduction in meat consumption to a limitation, with quantified targets expected to be set in the separate national low‑carbon strategy under discussion.
  • The draft favors voluntary limits on marketing of high‑fat, high‑sugar, high‑salt foods to children and, according to Radio France, swaps a PNNS call to limit ultra‑processed products for guidance to favor less‑ or unprocessed foods at the Agriculture Ministry’s request, drawing NGO criticism.