Society

First carbon footprint labeling hits shelves

By Lin Shujuan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-24 16:16

Sea scallops became China's first food product to have a label showing their carbon footprint on Friday.

Zhangzidao Fishery Group in Dalian, Liaoning province applied for the carbon label for its sea scallops grown in the company's 70,000-hectare seawater area earlier this year.

The label, approved by SGS China Office, one of the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification companies, gives the number of grams of carbon per 100 grams or milliliters of a product, produced during its entire lifecycle.

The 27,000 tons of three-year-old sea scallops grown by the company in 2009 consumed 7,337 tons of carbon dioxide, SGS reports said, equivalent to a carbon sink offered by 319,000 trees.

Carbon labeling, which commits the manufacturer to reducing their carbon output, has proved very effective in Britain, where such a scheme began in 2007.