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GDA Labels: A brief history of GDA labelling

Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) for calories, fat and saturated fat were first set in 1998, following collaboration between the UK Government, the food industry and consumer organisations – overseen by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

They were intended to translate science into consumer-friendly information; providing guidelines to help consumers contextualise the nutrition information on food labels.

These GDAs were based on the recommendations of the UK Government's Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA) report on Dietary Reference Values. To date, this report has not been superseded and still stands as the basis for dietary recommendations in the UK.

From 1998, GDA values began appearing, on a voluntary basis, on the back of food and drink packs in the UK.

In 2004, GDAs were reviewed, developed and extended to include values for carbohydrates, sugars, protein, salt and fibre, following a review by a group of experts, again under the auspices of IGD.

Interest in providing front-of-pack nutrition information began to build in the UK from November 2004, following publication of the Government's Public Health White Paper, which called for the introduction of front-of-pack nutrition labelling.

In early 2006, FDF members publicly announced they would launch a voluntary scheme based on GDAs – taking information that had long been provided on the back of UK packs and highlighting it on the front, so that consumers could easily see what was inside the products they were buying.

In early 2007, FDF members launched a £4m consumer education campaign (including TV advertising shown above) to educate consumers about the new information appearing on food packs – and encouraging them to use it.

In March 2009 the European Food Safety Authority published its opinion on proposed reference intake levels for Europe, which were found to be consistent with the figures behind the GDAs developed in the UK.

By 2010, more than 90 UK food and drink companies were carrying GDA information on the front of their products.

More information

• For more information visit the GDA Label website
• Leading the debate on nutrition labelling
• Does front-of-pack nutrition labelling work?
• 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