France's famed chocolate and pastry makers are bitterly opposing a government proposal to place health warnings on their products in an attempt to stem rising obesity.
The country's 4,500 traditional "chocolatiers" and "pâtissiers" are lobbying the health ministry to discard a plan to introduce colour-coded labels for all food products to promote healthy eating.
The labels would come in five colours ranging from green, for products considered good for your health, to red, for those best avoided or eaten in small quantities. Chocolate would be coded red.
The Confederation of French Chocolate and Pastry Makers has started a petition and a social media campaign on social media aimed at countering the notion that chocolate is unhealthy.
"Chocolate doesn't make you fat," the confederation wrote in an open letter to the health minister, Marisol Touraine. The letter argues that "this kind of labelling will do nothing to decrease obesity or diabetes" and claims that "attempts to introduce this same system in the United States during the last 40 years have been a resounding failure."
Manufacturers point to research which indicates that eating a few pieces of dark chocolate each week can lower cholesterol labels and blood pressure. "How can all the studies and virtues of chocolate be ignored in favour of the opinion of one single report?" the petition by artisanal chocolate and pastry makers asks. It claims that polyphenols in cocoa and chocolate inhibit the formation of fat cells.
However, the health ministry says consumers should beware of eating too much chocolate because of its high fat content.
France has long been seen as a nutritional role model by other western countries, with one of Europe's lowest obesity rates and a reputation for fine cuisine and longevity.
However, the number of overweight or obese French people is increasing fast as the nation that was once a bastion of "slow food" has developed an unhealthy appetite for fast food.
The government wants parents to encourage their children to eat healthy food and not to let them eat cake or chocolate, at least not in excessive quantities.
The sit-down restaurant lunch has historically been a sacrosanct part of the French way of life, but people are now spending more on junk food, burgers and sandwiches. France is McDonald's second most profitable market after the United States. In a characteristic move in protest-prone France, hundreds of people took to the streets in May to demand the opening of a "McDo" in a small town near the northern city of Lille.
The “artisanal chocolatiers” say the jobs of their 15,000 workers would be placed at risk if the health ministry has its way.
The colour-coding proposal originates from the recommendations of a prominent nutritionist, Professor Serge Hercberg. He said the aim was to allow consumers “to assess at a glance the overall nutritional quality of food when they buy it” and to encourage manufacturers to improve their products.