Food Labels

READY, STEADY, GO!

Recently The Food Standards Agency (FSA), the government’s food watchdog, announced that it wants food packaging to carry a colour-coded ‘traffic-light’ type warning to help shoppers make healthier choices.

We all lead busy lives and while the evidence of buying patterns show that people are trying to look for healthier food they want this information to be quick and easy to find and understand.

This new scheme has been developed as a result of extensive consumer research and feedback from supermarkets, manufacturers, and consumer and public health groups.

SO HOW WILL THE SCHEME WORK?

 

This is a system of front of pack labelling which should provide ‘at-a-glance’ information about the nutritional content of food.
The scheme involves red, amber and green labels to indicate levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. The agency has defined the values according to the following table:

Red would indicate a high level, or unhealthy choice, amber would mean it was ok to eat in moderation and green would show a healthier choice option.

As an aid to healthy eating consumers like to know how much is too much i.e. what would be a ‘red’ label and this is set out in the table below:

The actual amount of each nutrient will be displayed in grams per serving and consumers looking for more specific information about particular nutrients will still be able to find it on the nutritional panel that already appears on food packaging.

The scheme is intended to be used on processed foods such as ready meals, breakfast cereals and sandwiches and there are no plans to use it on food such as cheese, butter, meat, vegetables or drinks.

SO WILL THIS NEW LABEL APPEAR ON ALL PRE-PACKAGED FOOD?

This new scheme has been welcomed by consumer organisations such as Which? and the Nutritional Consumer Council as well as health organisations such as The British Heart Foundation. Some supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Asda have also pledged to adopt the scheme on their own brand products.

Consumer research has found that many people find the nutritional information currently found on the back of  the pack difficult to use so developing a consistent way of clearly highlighting how much sugar salt and fat a food contains will make it simpler for people to put healthy eating advice into practice when shopping.

The problem is, however, is that the FSA has no powers to actually enforce the scheme and has met with some resistance from the food industry.

Last month 5 of the UK’s biggest food companies introduced their own alternative scheme which is based on guideline daily amounts (GDA) of each nutrient. This system will show shoppers what percentage of the recommended daily amount of the key nutrients is contained in each portion of the food they are buying. However, if the packaging is too small , a smaller logo will appear with more information on the back.

The food industry argues that the research they have carried out indicates that GDA as a percentage is more useful for consumers that the traffic light system.

The FSA has responded to this by stating that while it was encouraging to see that the food industry is taking the need to improve food labelling seriously there is a concern that a variety of different labelling and signposting methods would only serve to confuse the bewildered shopper even more!

Consumers want a straightforward labelling scheme, established by an authorative and trusted source that shows them at a glance if a food contains high, medium or low amounts of fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar.

WHY IS THE NEW SYSTEM NEEDED AND WHAT INFORMATION APPEARS ON CURRENT LABELS?

We are relying more and more on processed, pre-packaged food and the ‘hidden’ ingredients they contain are not always obvious. Diet-related diseases are a major killer in the UK and it is vital that we have well informed consumers who know what a healthy diet is and how to go about choosing it.

UNDERSTANDING CURRENT FOOD LABELS

INGREDIENTS

These are listed in descending order of weight, with the biggest ingredient first (the only exception to this is yoghurt where the biggest ingredient, milk, does not need to be listed).

NUTRITIONAL INNFORMATION

This will tell you how much energy, protein carbohydrate and fat are in your food.

Guideline daily amounts may also be found on some food labels. They are based on what the average person has from their food when eating a balanced diet.

If a food makes any sort of nutritional claim such as reduced, calorie, reduced fat etc this is a legal definition and means that the product should be at least 25% lower in calories than the standard version. It is worth remembering that the so called ‘healthier’ option may still be high in  calories or fat so it is important to know your numbers in what your eating! The following table provides a guideline:

If the quantities fall between these figures, this is a moderate amount. Salt appears on a label as sodium convert and to convert this to the equivalent salt intake multiply by 2.5.

Some supermarkets have their own logos for food to indicate healthy eating. These products may be lower in fat, sugar or salt but not necessarily all of these at once and supermarkets set their own criteria. It may be a healthier choice than the standard version of that particular food but you still need to think about the overall context of your diet.

Other information that you may find on food labels includes date by which the food must be used, storage and preparation instructions, whether the food is suitable for vegetarians or those sensitive to gluten.

Read the label carefully and get a better understanding of exactly what it is you are eating.

Foods may make certain health claims and while there is no specific legislation about this the law says that labels are not allowed to claim that food can treat, prevent or cure any disease or medical condition. The label must not make any false claims or mislead the consumer in any way.

It is also important to have an understanding of the additives that are found in our food and this information can also be found on the label

E numbers indicate that a food additive has passed safety tests and been approved for use throughout the European Union. The must common additives are:

• Antioxidants – make foods last longer by stopping a reaction with oxygen in the air. One of the most commonly used is Vitamin C, which is also called ascorbic acid or E300.
• Colours – sometimes used to replace natural colour lost during food processing or to make products a consistent colour.
• Preservatives – help stop food ‘go off’ and mean that food can be kept safely for longer. Most food that has a long shelf life is likely to contain preservatives.
• Sweeteners – These are often used instead of sugar in products such as fizzy drinks and chewing gum as they are lower in calories and safer for teeth. Examples include aspartame (E951) and saccharin (E954)

It is obvious that the world of food labelling is a vast and confusing one so any system that attempts to simplify it and make healthy eating an easier choice can surely only be a good thing?