Food labelling: stuck at the lights?

This would, after all, be very bad for business. It could make a huge dent in the cereal market, which is worth £1.27 billion a year, as well as in the frozen food and confectionary markets. Many in the industry are baffled. 'Are we saying that people shouldn't eat confectionary?' asked Alastair Sykes, chief executive of Nestle UK.

Those opposed to the scheme have serious clout and include industry giants Tesco, Morrisons and Somerfield, as well as 24 other manufacturers such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Kraft and Kelloggs. They argue the traffic light system is too simplistic and warn that the signals could actually mislead shoppers. Tesco even tested the colour-coded scheme in their stores and found that customers thought the amber colour was confusing.

Since the scheme is only voluntary, those opposed to it have introduced their own alternative health labelling, the GDA (Guideline Daily Amount), which, they argue, has greater flexibility and provides more information. GDAs give details of the calories, fat, saturates, salt and sugar, indicating the percentage of the recommended daily amount of each category in a portion, or serving, from the product.

The Food Standards Agency has hit back, describing the GDA labels as 'not scientific' and too complicated to compute at a glance. 'People have difficulty interpreting them when they are rushing around the supermarket,' said a spokesman for the FSA. The Food and Drink Federation refute that, conducting research that found that 67 per cent of people do understand GDAs.

In the next few weeks, an advertising battle between traffic light labelling and GDAs, will take place. The GDAs are spending £4 million on their campaign, twice the budget of the FSA for the colour-coded system. But it has already been a hot topic in the press.

Some shoppers are optimistic. 'The traffic light scheme is a good idea because it is so in your face, I haven't heard about the GDA one,' says Christine Murdoch, a mother of five from Edinburgh. 'A lot of people have no idea about what they are buying, so I think anything that makes people think about what they eat is a good idea.'

Others are less confident about the influence these new labels will have. 'Traffic lights or GDA, people who are addicted to processed food will soon learn to ignore them,' argues William Marks, a carpenter from North London.

Once both labelling systems have really entered the public's consciousness many questions will still loom: Will people take them up? Will they really help to reduce obesity? Will these traffic lights fail, and the GDA labels get the green light from every retailer? Right now, it's up to us, the consumer, to decide.

Are you a traffic light labeller or do you prefer GDAs? Share your views with other iVillagers on the Eating For Health message board.

For more information visit:

www.eatwell.gov.uk (Traffic lights)

www.whatsinsideguide.com (GDA)