Surge in front-of-pack labelling: AFGC
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 added to house brand labels in major supermarkets including Woolworths, Coles and IGA.
“The DIG scheme gives people the information needed to formulate a daily eating plan according to their individual needs and activity levels. They show the amount of energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in a recommended serve of the food and what this represents as a proportion of average daily intake,” she advised. “AFGC and its retail partners will be rolling out user-friendly consumer education material in retail stores to ensure consumers know how to use the nutritional information to formulate a balance diet.”