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GDA Labels: Does front-of-pack nutrition labelling work?

Research carried out for the Food and Drink Federation by independent consultancy Millward Brown between 2006 and 2008 shows that industry's efforts to educate consumers about the benefits of using GDAs have paid off – with our campaign resulting in high levels of awareness (83%), understanding (80%) and claimed usage (63%) of the front-of- pack labels.

Since then, other independent consumer research projects have confirmed the positive impact of GDA labelling.

In 2008, the European Food Information Council carried out a pan-European study in which it questioned more than 17,000 people in six EU countries and found that 27% of UK consumers regularly looked for nutrition information on food packaging (compared with an average of 18% for Europeans as a whole) and that well-established systems such as GDAs were widely recognised and understood by shoppers.

In April 2009, the first part of a major EU study called FLABEL (Food Labelling to Enhance Better Education for Life) was published and revealed that GDAs were by far the most dominant labelling system in Europe – appearing on an average of 25% of packs, rising to 63% in the UK.

More recently, the UK's Food Standards Agency has revealed the results of a significant programme of research to evaluate the impact of front-of-pack nutrition signpost labelling schemes on purchasing behaviour and consumer knowledge.

Based on an independent expert review of the research, we believe it shows that all the major schemes operating in the UK (GDAs, traffic lights and hybrid combinations of both) are well understood and are particularly effective in enabling consumers to make comparisons between products.

The Food Standards Agency has proposed that UK industry moves voluntarily towards a complex triple hybrid labelling system – comprising GDA information on a per-portion basis overlaid with either text (the words 'high, medium and low') and/or traffic light colours.

But we remain concerned that there is not enough evidence in the research to conclude that such a triple hybrid solution outperforms other label formats – in fact, the more complex the label, the longer it takes consumers to interpret the information.

Given the discussions now underway within the EU Institutions on a new Food Information Regulation, we think it would be premature for the UK to agree further labelling initiatives in the absence of any certainty about the future legislative framework for the provision of nutrition information.

It is clear that consumers value the information. So we support any measures designed to increase use of the information currently available, particularly when it complements other public health initiatives in the UK (such as the provision of calorie per portion information on catering menus).

More information

• For more information on research projects visit GDA Label website
• Leading the debate on nutrition labelling
• A brief history of GDA labelling
• Know what's going inside you
• Why not colour code?

Download the full PDF report: GDA Labels: Improving the food literacy of consumers - pdf | 375kb