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 »

A pan-European study by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) has provided further insights into the shopper relationship with food labels. The study, which questioned 17,300 people from various European countries, both in supermarkets and at home, found that only 18% of Europeans regularly look for nutrition information on food packaging in-store. Independent market research agencies carried out the field work in each country. Results showed, however, that the better established forms... ...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 »