A European bunfight breaks out over food labels

THE TREATYEU of Versailles, signed in 1919, is usually remembered for the humiliating punishments it heaped on Germany. But flip through the pages of the accord that ended the first world war and a lesser-known aim of the Allied powers appears: the protection of champagne. Article 275 ensured that never again would French palates have to suffer the infamy of tasting German-grown grapes passed off as Gallic fizz. Among diplomats and historians the treaty is not considered one of Europe’s finest hours, given its role in sparking the next world war. Pampered farmers are perhaps the only ones who remember it more fondly.A century later, food remains the stuff of high politics in Europe. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the ’s Common Agricultural Policy, which still manages to hijack a third of the bloc’s budget. Trade deals wanted by some member states are routinely scuppered to protect farmers in another (usually France). Now a new bunfight is gripping the continent. The European Commission in Brussels will this year propose rules that would require the nutritional qualities of all foods to be displayed on the front of their packaging. The idea is to tip off shoppers about what makes them fat. But the measure, backed by nutritionists, is being attacked by its opponents as nothing less than an assault on the European way of life.