Which? gives the food industry red (and amber and green) cards

3 May 2007

Which? is so exasperated by the failure of some food retailers and manufacturers to help consumers understand what’s in their food, it’s produced its own food shopping card to make sense of the labels.

Consumers buying some processed food are still not getting the information they need to help them choose a balanced diet. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has spent £2 million promoting traffic-light labels* for the front of food packs but some major companies – including Tesco, Unilever and Nestlé – are backing the rival guideline daily amount (GDA) labelling scheme**.

Which? ***and FSA**** research has shown that traffic-light labels work best for shoppers. The FSA’s red, amber and green labels for levels of fat, sugar and salt help interpret GDAs in a quick, easy-to-understand format. The companies supporting non-colour coded GDA labels claim their system has sound research to back it, but have not made full details of this research public.

Which? thinks that widespread use of traffic-light labelling, or at least the use of red, amber and green on food packs alongside GDAs, will make shopping easier***** and hope it will encourage manufacturers to reformulate products so they become healthier.

The consumer organisation has produced a food shopping card which can be downloaded for free at www.which.co.uk/shoppingcard.

Neil Fowler, Editor, Which?, said:

“Many of us shop in a hurry and don’t have time to examine the nutrition information panel in detail. Clear, traffic-light colours on the front of packs are crucial to show shoppers the way to quick and easy healthy food choices - all companies should do this.
“We’re so fed up with the lack of consensus in the food industry that we’ve produced this card on our website. If you shop in a store that doesn’t use traffic-light colours, this information can help you make healthier food choices.”

Notes to editors

* Traffic-light labels use red, amber and green to indicate levels of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in a processed-food product. Labels show whether products have high, medium or low levels of these nutrients in 100g of food. The FSA has set different red criteria for foods where portions are more than 100g (see www.eatwell.org.uk).

**The GDA label, developed by the industry body the Institute of Grocery Distribution, is based on the maximum levels of key nutrients we should have in one day. Without traffic-light colours they don’t indicate whether products have high, medium or low levels, only the amount of each nutrient per portion and its percentage of your GDA. There are separate GDA levels for men, women and children in different age groups, although adult guidance has been found on products targeted at children.

*** In May 2006 Which? carried out a face-to-face survey of 636 people representative of shoppers in Great Britain. Each was questioned about one of four label types (the traffic-light label and three GDA variations). 97 per cent spotted healthier versions of similar foods using the FSA’s traffic-light label compared with 87 per cent using the industry's preferred GDA label and 50 per cent correctly identified levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt compared with only 5 per cent using the GDA label.

**** The FSA surveyed 2,676 consumers in 2005. It found that shoppers are more likely to work out the nutritional content of products using the traffic-light system.

***** The Which? survey also found that out of 636 people, 73 per cent thought different labels on different products were confusing.

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