Nutrition labelling muddle

Why have nutrition labelling ? To inform ? To change behaviour ? The answer should be both.

So labels must have an immediate visual impact, backed up by easy to read numbers that can be compared and acted on.

6 food and drink companies – Coca-Cola, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever – have now come out in support of a traffic light format across Europe. This makes sense to me.

There has been criticism of using portion sizes as a reference but, if portion sizes are reduced to stay green, that may not be so bad.

Whatever path is chosen, action should be taken without further delay.

I was on the UK Food and Drink Industries Council Nutrition Labelling Panel back in the mid-1980s. And still the debate lingers on.

Only last week, a new alternative approach was put forward in France. Impending Brexit negotiations and European elections won’t make resolution easier. But this is one of many issues where European harmony would serve us well.