Do you find the current system of labelling food confusing?
Sainsbury’s, for example, u
ses the red-amber-green “traffic light” system which grades the amount of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt in a product. Red means a high concentration and green a relatively low one.
But Waitrose and — crucially – Tesco prefer to use guideline daily amounts (GDA), which they say are more informative. Asda uses a combination of both.
Critics say the traffic light system introduced by the government in 2004, is faulty because it is based on the concept of “good” and “bad” food when what matters, they say, is whether a whole diet is good or bad, not just a single product.
But it is at least, more direct and visual than simple numbers – perhaps a bit too direct for some stores who may think the sight of a red label deters customers.
Now the government wants to introduce a single system by the end of the year as part of its anti-obesity drive.
What system would you prefer? Traffic lights, numbers or none of the above?
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6 comments so far
Yes the current food labelling system is confusing and ambiguous to say the least. Its time the government actually does something rather the light touch approach to almost everything when convenient. I believe the traffic light system is the way forward.
- Posted by OlumideTraffic lights utterly underestimate the intelligence of consumers, and so it’s no wonder the government are so much in favour of them. It’s possible that Alan Johnson can’t do percentages but how difficult can it be to understand that 50% is bigger than 25%?
- Posted by Hayley PoulterAs long as bully boys like Tesco try to manipulate the labelling to suit themselves - then labelling will suffer and so will we.
The Gov. should act and tell Tesco and co to naff off!
- Posted by Keith M WarwickThe system is very confusing. It’s time to call it like it is instead of trying to obfuscate the facts with confusing colour codes.
- Posted by JuneLife is complicated enough…the simpler the system the better. Whilst the well educated and those with a real interest in what they consume can no doubt cope with the GDA system, for those in a rush and those that have never read a food label in their life, traffic lights will be more effective
- Posted by Nick BowmanThe nanny state should keep out of our lives. To suggest that supermarkets are making us fat or poisoning us by some sinister labelling plot is, frankly, insane. I trust Tesco one thousand times more than I trust any politician. And I don’t need anyone to tell me that if I stuff myself I will get fat whatever the label on the packet says.
- Posted by John Lamble