"food standards agency" news and stories

After its launch at the end of last year in the UK, the voluntary traffic light labeling system seemed to be a success. The labels use an easy-to-read, color-coded system to indicate that a product has a high, low or medium level of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. The premise behind the label is that it eliminates the time and hassle of label-reading, not to mention the stigma of "diet" foods, or being on a diet, which is a concern to some. Consumers learn that greens are good for everyday and the reds are fine once in a while.

Now, Australia is probably going to give the labels a go. They are hoping that, just like in Britain, consumers will opt for healthier foods over less healthy choices with more regularity. Surveys show that 9 out of 10 consumer find the system clear and easy to use, enabling 97% of consumers to make the better nutritional choice when comparing foods with the labels.

In the meantime, the British government is considering making the labeling system mandatory in the hopes of helping consumers further. Could the US be the next country to try the system?

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Anywhere from 1-6% of Britons suffer, to one degree or another, from an allergy to latex. The rubber-based product is used in several types of food packaging materials, including rubber bands, stickers and adhesives. Often, these products to not come into contact with food at all, but a recent study commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) found that in some cases the latex is transferred to the food. It can take as little 1 one billionth of a gram to trigger a latex allergy, so some groups, like the UK's Latex Allergy Support Group, are calling for a change in labeling guidelines to protect consumers.

The FSA has said that it is too soon to draw conclusions based on the results of one study. There is no information available yet on how many, if any, allergic reactions have actually been caused from a food-related exposure to latex.

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Recognizing that television is not the sole media source that children are exposed to, British ministers are wondering whether a proposal that bans junk food ads on television will be effective. As a result, they are now considering whether to add restrictions to the ad content of websites, computer games, cinemas and packaging, as well as corporate school sponsorships. Such measures "could be voluntary or compulsory depending on the response of the food industry." Strict measures like these are being supported by the Labour Party and various parent groups.

The Food Standards Agency, backing the ban, has devised a "nutrient profiling system" to identify "junk foods" according to their nutritional information. It could be used to determine whether or not a food product could be advertised if a ban becomes legislation.

Ofcom, a television regular, thinks that measures like this seem too strict. A pre-9pm television ban alone would cost networks and advertisers at least £141 million, but there is not telling what the cost of essentially prohibiting "junk food" ads would be.

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The traffic light system is a voluntary food labeling system devised by the British Food Standards Agency to denote with a single glance the levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in products. While not necessarily intended to let consumers know that the product is health food, it does give them a very fast, clear idea of what they are about to eat. Several supermarkets, including Waitrose and Sainsburys have adopted the program with surprising results: sales of unhealthy foods have dropped and healthier foods have increased.

Why is this working when so many other awareness campaigns have failed in the past, or enjoyed only a very limited success? It seems to be the fact that the labels are hard to ignore. Or rather, it is that they take no effort to read. A consumer doesn't have to spend time trying to decipher a nutritional label or wonder what "48% less fat!" really refers to. They don't have to draw attention to the fact that they want to know the nutritional information, which can be embarrassing for some shoppers.

Now this is interesting. Following the introduction of health warnings on the front of food packaging by major UK supermarkets, sales of certain products fell. In some cases, the drop was quite dramatic.

Today's Sunday Times reports that within two months of Tesco's introduction of nutrition labels, sales of Prawn Mayonnaise sandwiches have fallen 26%-37% over the past year. Sainsburys says that sales of Chicken Madras have fallen 40% since it began its labelling scheme 15 months ago. Similar declines were reported for Sainsbury's other ready meals.

While the government's Food Standard Agency has been trying to introduce a "traffic light" nutrition labelling program since 2004, individual supermarkets' efforts are having an immediate effect on customers' purchasing habits.

Other indications show that consumers are heeding the various warnings. Sales of Salmon en Croute fell by more than a third; that's unsurprising when you read that a package contains 91% of the daily recommendaded saturated fat intake. Croissant sales fell by 8%. In comparison, sales of low-fat, low-salt egg and cress sandwiches doubled.

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