Health food and breakfast cereal giant Sanitarium has announced its own traffic light labelling system, the Healthy Eating System, which it says goes beyond basic traffic light labels to include highlights of positive and negative nutrients and frequency of consumption. Sanitarium’s Science & Technical Manager, Dr Greg Gambrill, said the aim of any Front-of-Pack Labelling should be to improve eating habits in line with public health policy initiatives as identified in the recent Blewett... ...Read more »

A mandatory strategy to phase out junk food in vending machines and canteens through Queensland Health facilities has been slow to take effect, with an evaluation revealing that only one in four facilities have fully complied with the 2007 plan to limit foods with a high sugar, salt and fat content, and 22% implementing less than half the requirements. The plan, which also included fundraising activities and other hospital dining options, was designed to cut obesity and diet-related disease, is based... ...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 »

The debate that never seems to go away is set to be on the agenda for at least another year, according to a newspaper report today. Regulation for front-of-pack labelling guides on packaged groceries is not expected until next year, with the traffic light labelling vs. daily intake guide argument set to rage on until a decision is made. The issue has been bubbling for years, with a number of consumer and health groups including Choice and AMA calling for traffic-light labelling on the front of packaged... ...Read more »

The food labelling debate has ignited again overnight, following the release of the largest study on the issue completed to date. Commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency, an independent group of experts completed an 18-month study to help determine the most effective policy going forward. A combination of traffic light labelling and Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) information was found to be the ideal front-of-pack solution. The group, known as the Project Management Panel (PMP), was responsible... ...Read more »

The thirteenth meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council* was held in Sydney today, with alcohol health warning labels and food labelling on the agenda. The meeting was chaired by Senator Jan McLucas, Parliamentary Secretary to the Australian Government Minister for Health and Ageing, as the Ministerial Council considered a range of strategic policy and food standards issues. Comprehensive Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy The meeting agreed to the Terms of... ...Read more »

Claims that Australia’s front of pack labelling guidelines are “not in line with eating habits and dietary needs” are false and misleading, according to Australia’s leading organisation representing food and grocery manufacturers – the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said, in response to Choice’s claims today, that the Daily Intake Guide – applied to more than 1100 cereal, cheese, biscuits and drink products in... ...Read more »

The introduction of a traffic light system on the front of products would represent an overly simplistic approach to food labelling, according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), which represents food and grocery manufacturers. Prominent consumer group, The Parents Jury, this morning urged the government to introduce traffic light labelling on the front of food packaging, joining the chorus of calls from a number health and consumer groups supporting this labelling option. Choice and... ...Read more »

A 3-year European Union project is set to provide state-of-the-art science on nutrition labels and consumer behaviour as well as best practice guidelines for future research, industry and policy-makers. The first EU-funded research programme on nutrition labelling, FLABEL (Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life), was officially launched this week. The issue In response to the prevalence of diet-related diseases, governments and food companies increasingly promote nutrition information... ...Read more »

A pan-European study by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), presents interesting information for the food industry – with food labels found to be widely understood and recognised. “While there are several nutrition labelling schemes across Europe, our findings show that people recognise them and generally know how to use them to make informed nutrition choices,” commented Professor Klaus Grunert of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, who conducted the study for EUFIC.... ...Read more »