Would you buy a strawberry juice or smoothie if you knew it consisted mainly of apples? Do you want to know which ‘juice’ contains additional sugar or sweeteners? How healthy is your fruity drink?

Euro MPs today decided to put in place stricter rules on the composition of fruit juices and better labelling guidelines which will substantially improve the quality of fruit juices available across the EU.

North West England Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies said after the vote:

“For many consumers with health issues such as diabetes and allergies it is vitally important to clearly state what has been put in their drinks.

“I am delighted that in the future it will be prohibited to put extra sugar in drinks labelled as fruit juice. And it will no longer be possible to market a product on the basis of only a minor ingredient if the juice is actually made up of a completely different fruit. No more apples disguised as strawberries!”

The new rules will come into force after a transition period of 18 months and will apply to all juice products regardless of whether they are produced in the EU or imported from elsewhere.

David Cameron was this morning accused of relegating Britain to the second division of Europe.

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies claimed that by wrecking agreement between EU countries in Brussels the Prime Minister had ensured that a two speed Europe would develop.

He said: “Far from keeping Britain strong, Cameron has ensured that we will lose our influence at the top table.  By seeking to protect bankers from regulation, he has betrayed Britain’s real interests and done nothing in practice to help the City of London.

“The fear now must be that we will increasingly lose the opportunity to affect decisions being taken that are bound to affect us.

“The consequence of the xenophobic attitudes towards our European neighbours that have been allowed to develop has been to leave Britain weak.  We have shot ourselves in the foot.”

Following the regional AGM and ballot the new executive for the North West for 2012 will be:

Chair: Jo Crotty
Treasurer: Richard Marbrow
Secretary: Jane Brophy

VC Campaigns: Andrew Garner
VC Candidates: Bruce Hubbard
VC Conferences: Kev Benfold
VC Fundraising: Sarah Harding
VC Membership & Development: Dave Page
VC Policy: Mike Turner
VC Standards & Practice: Mark Clayton

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