174 WINE LAW Another problem involves defining the scope of the regulator’s actions. Should information to consumers be based on a strictly scientific approach? How should we cope with changes in theories or controversial assumptions by the scientific world? While this may appear to be a trivial issue, we are exposed by claims every day that may be misunderstood by consumers or simply proven inaccurate13. The third problem – and perhaps the most formidable to cope with – is to provide information that is not only accurate and true but also effective; in other words, it should imply clear, easily understandable and sufficient to make the consumer more educated in his or her approach. Our view is that the most problematic issue involves reconciling clearness and accuracy. The notable problem of information overload14 demonstrates that consumers tend to ignore information provided (e.g. by food labels) when it is too detailed and lengthy. At the same time, not providing all of the information regarding a product or service may conflict with accurateness, which makes consumer education ineffective. The EU legislator attempts to cope with these problems, but, in our opinion, fails to solve the majority of them. A large amount of information must still be provided to consumers (see Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer contracts and Regulation 2011/1169/EU on food labelling, which will be addressed more extensively later). A more realistic approach within the EU framework of law (at least until today) is the British example. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, although based on European Directives, has been interpreted to emphasise the clearness of contractual terms and information, as has always been in the tradition of Common Law15. To summarise the points outlined in this section, it is clear that most regulators in free-market economies agree on the necessity to protect customers by providing them with more information, while simultaneously preventing enterprises and professionals from imposing unjustified burdens to contracts (e.g. by inserting clauses that may cause prejudice to consumers). Nevertheless, there are some specific markets wherein the issue of consumer rights is particularly sensible. One of the most notable examples is the market of food 13 Italian people are often told about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, which many people tend to identify as “how the Italians [or Greeks, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.] eat”, whereas very few people in these countries have a traditional diet based on the World Health Organization guidelines for healthy eating. 14 N. K. MALHOTRA, Reflections on the Information Overload Paradigm in Consumer Decision Making, in Journal of Consumer Research, 1984; N. K. MALHOTRA, A. K. JAIN & S. W. LAGAKOS, The Information Overload Controversy: An Alternative Viewpoint, in Journal of Marketing, 1982; J. JACOBY, Perspectives on Information Overload, in Journal of Consumer Research, 1984. 15 H. COLLINS, Good Faith in European Contract Law, in Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 1994.
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