Australian and New Zealand ministers today put nutrition and preventative health at the heart of a plan to reform laws on packaged food and drink product labelling in Australia. Ministers met in Melbourne today to consider their response to the recommendations in the Food Labelling Review Report, Labelling Logic (also known as the Blewett report). This was the first meeting of the Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation (Forum). The Forum on Food Regulation replaces the Australia and... ...Read more »

A lack of motivation and attention of consumers prevents nutritional information on food labels from impacting positively on food choices, a European study has found. The study was part of the ‘Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life’ (FLABEL) project, which provides research on consumer behaviour and nutrition labels to help guide industry players and policy-makers in Europe. The FLABEL consortium is comprised of academic experts, retailers, and not-for-profit organizations in the... ...Read more »

The Federal Government has announced today that it does not support the Traffic Light labelling system previously recommended by the Blewett Report. However, it does support the report’s recommendation on palm oil labelling in Australia. The Federal Government’s position was released today, ahead of the 9 December meeting of food and health ministers comprising the Australian New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council. Front-of-pack labelling Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon... ...Read more »

Differences in recommended serving sizes on like-for-like Australian food products are making it “near impossible” for shoppers to compare the nutritional content of the products, according to new research by Sydney-based medical research body, The George Institute. The George Institute’s study contained in its ‘Examination of serving sizes of selected food products in Australia’ report, published today, was commissioned by Australian consumer advocacy group CHOICE. The George Institute’s... ...Read more »

A new smartphone application with the controversial traffic light system has been launched by the Obesity Policy Coalition, which aims to reduce obesity levels in Australia. The Obesity Policy Coalition’s new smartphone app gives a Traffic Light rating based on the amount of total fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium per 100 grams – green for ‘low’, amber for ‘medium’ and red for ‘high’. Because it is merely a smartphone app, its usage remains voluntary. To use the app, consumers... ...Read more »

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and consumer advocacy group CHOICE continue to disagree over the choice of different front-of-pack methods for food product labels to display nutritional information about the food. A Newspoll online survey published this week, commissioned by the AFGC, has found 78 per cent of Australian consumers are familiar with the AFGC-promoted scheme of Daily Intake Guide food labels. Daily Intake Guide labels use thumbnail symbols that outline the amount of energy,... ...Read more »

Woolworths has announced plans to add Daily Intake Guide information to the front of all of its private label foods Daily Intake Guide thumbnail labels already feature on more than 4000 supermarket products across Australia, and Woolworths said it plans to increase their use to its full range of products within the next 12 months. The move was applauded by the Australian Food and Grocery Council, which has championed the use of DIG labelling over other front-of-pack nutritional labelling styles,... ...Read more »

Over the past three years, the number of products with Daily Intake Guide (DIG) front-of-pack labelling has increased by more than 3,000% from 58 in 2007 to more than 2,000 in 2009, according to new industry research. AFGC’s latest in-store labelling audit found that DIG, launched in Australia in 2006, is now used by about 180 leading brands on more than 2,000 food and beverage products in supermarkets and convenience stores. AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said DIG was also being progressively... ...Read more »

Australians making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight by improving their diets should follow daily intake labels which have been expanded to thousands of products, according to new research by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). The latest industry research found Daily Intake Guide (DIG) front-of-pack labelling – first introduced in Australia in 2007 – is currently on more than 2000 food and beverage products and is used by about 180 leading brands. AFGC Chief Executive... ...Read more »

The Federal Government demonstrated a commonsense approach by deferring a decision on front of pack labelling of foods for 12 months, Australia’s leading organisation representing food and grocery manufacturers, the Australian Food and Grocery Council, has said. The Government and all states and territories have agreed to a comprehensive review of labelling laws in Australia, chaired by the Victorian Government. It’s understood the terms of reference for the review have been agreed and... ...Read more »