Traffic light labelling must not be de-railed

I suspected that something was going wrong when packets without traffic light labelling continued to appear on supermarket shelves. I’m sure that some companies don’t want to own up to the fact that their products don’t look very healthy choices.

Of course, what should be happening is that traffic light labelling should be rolled out across the EU countries.

I would be interested to know how many people actually use , understand or care about the traffic light codes. However the survey would need to well constructed to avoid any bias.

My guess is those that eat the most badly also care the least, and those who eat wisely probably would not bebuying those products anyway. Do I welcom traffic lights on all products – not really. Because as with all things it will mission creep to everything we can possibly eat or drink so that looking in the larder will become a a guilt trip.

If it is purely on manufactured meals and on certain drinks I think it supportable.

It may be useful when comparing two meals or foods in order to make a choice but I see little use otherwise.
Of course butter is going to be red for fat and sugar etc red for sugar …………..

I don’t find the coloured blobs to be very useful. I always read the entire fat/salt/etc box.

“Diet surveys repeatedly show that many people eat too much fat, sugar and salt”. My random observations on a recent holiday show that many people eat too much, full stop. I feel that the food content message is ignored by the very people who would benefit most from heeding it; it would ease the pressure on their heart and their wallet.

I am very much in favour of traffic light labelling and cannot see how the EC can possibly stop manufacturers putting this information on the front of their packaging, especially since it is a voluntary scheme. There are far worse messages, images and suggestions on our daily foodstuffs which go unchallenged. So long as it is truthful, the traffic lights display is a helpful quick guide. It also requires the minimum of literacy skills. As others have said above, for some people the traffic lights alone are not sufficient but the detailed nutritional information is available elsewhere on the packet – albeit in tiny print sometimes and not always consistent with the portion sizes or units used on comparable products. Other major retailers no doubt supply this information on their websites although I have no experience but I can confirm that Sainsbury’s set out in a clear and easily-readable form a statement of nutritional data and other relevant information for every food product you can order on-line. [Perhaps they should also supply this in a ring-binder to consult in the shop for those who do not have access to the website.] I have always been a strong supporter of the UK’s membership of the EU but sometimes it astonishes me with its reactionary ideas and its lopsided view of the market place. I hope the UK government files a robust defence of the scheme; surely we are not alone in this . . . or are we?

Interesting research

” As obesity rates rise, health professionals and policy makers scramble to help consumers resist unhealthy eating choices, often focusing on better labeling and improved nutritional knowledge. According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research, however, training people to pay attention to their emotions is a far more powerful strategy.

“Consumers are often mindless,” write authors Blair Kidwell (Ohio State University), Jonathan Hasford (Florida International University) and David M. Hardesty (University of Kentucky). “We not only demonstrate that emotional ability is trainable and that food choices can be enhanced, but also that emotional ability training improves food choices beyond a nutrition knowledge training program.”

Study participants were given general training in recognizing basic emotions in themselves and in others, after which they were exposed to a variety of food products and packaging and asked to notice what emotions they, and others, were experiencing. After the training, both the trained participants and people who had received no training were given the opportunity to choose a snack of either a healthy item or a chocolate bar. Those who had received the training were more likely to choose the healthy item.

Three months later participants in both groups were weighed: Those who had received training in recognizing their emotions had, on average, lost weight whereas those who had received no training had actually put on weight.

The authors conclude by urging consumer educational programs to put less focus on reading nutritional labels and to instead encourage exercises that enhance emotional awareness.
“With a better understanding of how they feel and how to use emotions to make better decisions, people will not only eat better, they will also likely be happier and healthier because they relate better to others and are more concerned with their overall well-being.”

More information:
Blair Kidwell, Jonathan Hasford, and David M. Hardesty. “Emotional Ability Training and Mindful Eating.” Forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research.

Please could Which? do an update on traffic light food labelling. The two main problems that I can see are:

1. Although supermarkets have done an excellent job in labelling their own products, some of the largest companies do not use the red, amber and green colours on their labels.

2. The portion sizes the the labels relate to are unrealistically small, possibly to make the products appear to be a more healthy choice than they are.