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?

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.

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.

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.

The British Food Standards Agency estimates that there are 3.5-million vegetarians and 250,000 vegans in the UK and, after consultation with both vegetarian and vegan groups, have decided to formulate labeling guidelines to food producers to follow. There is lots of confusion about the definitions of the terms among consumers, as well as manufacturers. Generally speaking, vegetarians refrain from eating meat products and vegans avoid all animal-derived products, including dairy and eggs. The purpose of introducing such guidelines is to prevent manufacturers from incorrectly identifying products as "vegetarian" or "vegan" when they actually contain meat-based or animal derived ingredients. To be sure all their bases were covered, the also defined the term "animals." With standards in place, consumers no longer need to worry that what they are picking up might contain undisclosed ingredients. The official guidelines are:

"Vegetarian: The term 'vegetarian' should not be applied to foods that are, or are made from, or with, the aid of products derived from animals that have died, have been slaughtered, or animals that die as a result of being eaten.

Animals means farmed, wild or domestic animals, including for example, livestock poultry, game, fish, shellfish, crustacea, amphibians, tunicates, echinoderms, mollusks and insects.

Vegan: The term 'vegan' should not be applied to foods that are, or are made from, or with, the aid of animals or animal products (including products from living animals)."

In the UK, the Food Standards Agency is considering implementing a program that would require fortification of white flour with folic acid. The reason for this is that folic acid has been linked to a decrease in birth defects such as spina bifida. In the US and Canada, white flour has been fortified with folic acid since 1998. Since that time, studies have shown a significant drop in stroke mortality when the rates were compared with data taken from the UK. This appears to have been an unintended benefit of the folic acid fortification, but is likely to be a contributing factor to the Food Standards Agency's move towards require the same policy in the UK. If they adopt the plan, it would be the first mandatory food fortification since the 1940s.

Folic acid is found in whole grain wheat, but is largely stripped away by the refining processes used to make white flour. Some bakers and other manufacturers in the UK voluntarily fortify their flour with folic acid already.

Even though the UK's Food Standards Agency and the European equivalent has stated that it "is not aware of any reports of people getting avian flu from eating poultry or eggs and recognizes that the current risk is from people having contact with live birds that have the disease" sales of poultry are likely to plummet in the wake of the UK's first confirmed outbreak.

Supermarkets have said it is too early to forecast the impact of the virus. Sales of poultry on mainland Europe plunged by 80 per cent in the weeks after cases of avian flu were discovered in Turkey. France said last month its poultry industry, the largest in Europe, was losing £27m a month.

The risk of catching the disease comes from being in close contact with live poultry that have the disease, and not through eating poultry or eggs. Poultry can include chicken, duck, goose, turkey and guinea fowl and the like. An article in the Guardian states The government's chief scientific adviser has insisted that Britain is better prepared than any other country to cope with bird flu.

The Food Standards Agency here in the UK has advised restaurants to halt serving dishes made from raw eggs and half-cooked poultry to eliminate any risk of catching bird flu. The public is advised only to serve meat where the juices run clear and eggs that have solid whites.

These rules, following the first confirmed bird flu outbreak in Scotland, rule out the making of fresh mayonnaise and mousses with raw eggs and the serving of poultry  such as duck pink in the middle. Mousses and mayonnaise sold in supermarkets are fine as they are made from pasteurized egg which is safe.

On eggs specifically, the Food Standards Agency warned: "People should not eat raw eggs or use raw eggs in dishes that will not be cooked." Runny yolks can be eaten apparently even though the World Health Organization, has stipulated that both egg whites and yolks should be solid.

 

Hailed in some quarters, and with me, as an unnecessary 'nanny-state' imposition the planned introduction of a traffic-light system on food packaging will not be taken up by Tesco and Morrisons, two of the UK's largest supermarket chains.

The UK's Food Standards Agency has been planning for months to introduce the nationwide scheme as an easy way for consumers to check if food is healthy or harmful. I mean how difficult is it to know that chocolate coated hobnobs ain't that good for you without having to stamp the packet with a red circle? Tesco also raised concerns that things like apples - with high sugar content - would also have a red circle.

While other supermarkets such as Waitrose are (or were) planning to comply with the voluntary scheme many food producers such as Kraft Foods, Danone, Kellogg's , Pepsi and Nestle were not.