Over the last 10 years the way nutrition labels have been displayed have changed dramatically.
Not only has food labels changed visually, but this has had an influence on the rate of obesity.
According to data published by Public Health England (PHE) over 50% of residents are either overweight, or obese.
In relation to food labels, research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) found that 51% of consumers felt they would pay more attention to nutritional content if it was easy to understand.
There was mixed reviews on the understanding of traffic light labelling with 64% thinking if a label had all green it should be consumed with caution.
It was recommended by the CIM that consumers should be educated into food labelling and nutrition which should be incorporated towards leading a healthier lifestyle.
As previously stated the labelling system has changed over the years.
In July 2004 during the white paper consultation, the Government produced the new traffic light system similar to traffic light signals on the streets of the United Kingdom.
Red stands for danger, therefore consume the food in small amounts, as it can be high in a particular nutrient, i.
e.
saturated fat, salt or sugar.
Excess amount of this can lead to health issues in the future.
Amber stands for consume sparingly as it could be high in saturated fat, salt or sugar.
Green stands for beneficial, so that particular food product would be low in either saturated fat, salt or sugar, or all of the above.
This was promoted to various organisations, and food companies.
There was particular concern from the food companies, about the new food labelling system, due to the financial implications of it.
Overall some of the food companies gathered together and produced the Guideline Daily Amounts, or GDA for short.
For more information about the Guideline Daily Amounts please read New Food Labelling Guidelines For the United Kingdom, for more information.
Due to conflict between the two systems, the Government decided during a public consultation that the two systems would be merged together.
In accordance with the European Law the nutrients had to show the 5 main nutrients if required: Energy Fat Saturates Sugars Salt This had to be provided in grams, apart from energy which is displayed in kilo calories or kilojoules.
Currently GDA system has been changed again to reference intake (RI).
This was because during the consultation there was a need to address consistency across all food labels.
This was reflected into the RI.
As well as this there is also a consistent colour system in place, to reflect the colours for red for high, amber for partial amount, and green for low in that nutrient.
RI's are given for all of the 6 nutrients, not 5 as previously.
These are: Energy Total fat Saturates Carbohydrates Sugars Protein Salt These nutrients have been produced to be used by adults and are not available children.
Below are the recommendations: For energy the maximum value consumed should be no more than 2000 kilo calories a day For total fat the maximum value consumed should be no more than 70 grams a day For saturated fat the maximum value consumed should be no more than 20 grams a day For sugars the maximum value consumed should be no more than 90 grams a day For protein the maximum value consumed should be no more than 50 grams a day For salt the maximum value consumed should be no more than 6 grams a day.
This scheme is still voluntary by food manufacturers, however it is highly encouraged to adopt this deal under the Governments' Public Health Responsibility Deal.
It will be labelled either in grams, kilojoules or kilo calories, and the label will also provide a reference intake percentage.
The way it is arranged will depend on the arrangement of the label.
For example, if the product was for a pizza, the label could describe the pizza as a slice, or per half of a size of the pizza, or a 40 gram serving of pizza, or a three and a quarter slice of pizza etc.
This particular arrangement can be important when choosing healthier options, to make comparisons, and to influence consumer choice on salt, sugar or saturated fat.
Overall the change in the food labelling system is important to influence and reduce obesity.
In London alone 4 million people are either overweight or obese.
This costs the NHS 5 Billion pounds each year.
More work is needed to tackle this issue but for now at least food labelling has currently been addressed.