Summary
The growing environmental footprint of agri-food production demands changes in both demand and supply. Demand-side efforts encourage eco-friendly behaviours, such as adopting more environmental-friendly diets and reducing food waste, while supply-side strategies focus on sustainable production and supply chains. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based ecolabels are pivotal in this shift. However, there are still challenges to address around harmonisation of various ecolabelling schemes that have rapidly emerged. This study, part of the Eco Food Choice project, analyses 16 LCA-based ecolabels from public and private sectors against 40 criteria to assess their credibility, consistency, and transparency. Findings highlight the need and critical success factors for a harmonised European ecolabelling system to enhance trust and support the sustainable food transition. While public (PEF-based) schemes present greater harmonisation, private labels using ISO or GHG protocols vary more in their methodologies.