To buy and to survive

Do you know what you're eating? Have you heard about foods that are full of antibiotics and artificial flavourings? Or about smoked products that contain more additives than the actual amount of meat? Then you are in for some bad news: the European Commission has banned the Klasa food label, which was to help make food selection easier. But a closer look reveals that maybe this isn't such a tragedy after all. A new, more reliable symbol of food quality has made its way into Czech supermarkets.

Klasa without additives

It was an image we'd seen for years. Billboards full of fresh-looking vegetables and a plethora of jams. Or the strong arms of bakers, loaves of bread and the motto: „Buy the best of our country“. The Klasa labeling system dates back to a year before the Czech Republic's EU accession. It was meant to serve as a buffer to protect local producers from the anticipated influx of international products. „We expected that after the accession, our market would be flooded with cheap products from abroad that wouldn't be required to pass quality controls as strict as those imposed on local products,“ says Vilém Frček, spokesman for the State Agricultural Intervention Fund, which is responsible for the promotion of Klasa.

According to available statistics, Klasa was a success. A survey by the STEM agency shows that 70% of Czechs are familiar with its logo and prefer…