The Industry Story - Guideline Daily Amounts
Melanie Leech, Director General, Food and Drink Federation,
As the voice of the UK's
largest manufacturing
sector[1], the Food and
Drink Federation (FDF)
has a passionate belief
that better outcomes for
society will be delivered
when industry and Government
work together in a genuine partnership
to make food safer, healthier and more
environmentally sustainable.
Our members have shown real leadership in recent
years in supporting key are
as of public policy. But it is
arguably our groundbreaking work in the area of health
and wellbeing where we have been making the biggest
difference to the lives of consumers – whether through
our reformulation efforts, the development of 'better
for you' products or the introduction of clearer on-pack
nutritional information.
In fact, FDF and its members published their sevenpoint
health and wellbeing action plan way back in
2004 – an early sign of the positive role our industry
could play in helping society meet the challenges posed
by obesity.
This plan included a public commitment to
provide clearer nutrition labelling on food and drink
packs as we recognised this would be a powerful tool
for helping consumers make better informed choices
and improve their overall food literacy.
Three years ago, there was little nutritional information
carried on the front of most food and drink products
sold in the UK. Today, that has all changed – thanks to
the enormous commitment shown by manufacturers
and retailers who have voluntarily incorporated this
information on their packs.
The most widely adopted scheme in the UK is based on
GDAs – Guideline Daily Amounts – and our leadership
in this market has prompted the European Commission
to propose a similar approach to nutritional labelling for its European-wide
food labelling regulation now being
negotiated in Brussels.
As well as outlining the progress being made to
increase the use of GDA information on the front of
food and drink packs here in the UK, this report will
explain why we believe adding traffic lights on top of
GDA labels is unlikely to help shoppers further.
The available evidence suggests that shoppers from all
walks of life are increasingly aware of GDA labels[2], on
the front of packs, and are using them more often[3].
GDAs are working!
There are some fundamental reasons why GDA
labels are creating significant shopper interest and
why overlaying traffic light colours could be less
helpful, not more:
- Front-of-pack GDA labels are a useful summary
of the nutritional information found on the back
of food and drink packs – as such they are
relevant to all product categories. By contrast,
multiple traffic lights were not designed for
universal use; research from the Food Standards
Agency also shows that consumers would not
welcome them on all categories[4],
- GDA labelling is based on per portion information
whilst traffic light labelling is applied per 100g.
Combining the two approaches across all
categories provides some confusing results.
For example: a 10g portion of a spread
containing 0.2g of salt would have a red label
for salt, whilst a ready meal containing 2.2g of
salt would have an amber label
- GDA labels encourage consumers to commit to
positive incentives rather than pay heed to
negative warnings, and thus far the data suggest
that consumers have responded well to the
approach favoured by the majority in the food
and drink industry.
The two schemes use very different approaches
and methodologies, and overlaying colours on
GDAs produces a plethora of ambiguous results:
- Products with significantly different nutritional
profiles can get the same traffic light colour
combinations: consequently at-a-glance shoppers
may not be helped to pick the healthier option
- Products, which typically are consumed in portions
larger than 100g, may get inferred traffic light
'endorsement' when in reality their consumption
levels merit careful consideration
- Some foods that are recommended to be included
in healthy balanced diets – such as oily fish, nuts
or cheese – can become unfairly demonised with
a swathe of red warning signs
FDF's is the first voice that you will read in this report,
but over the course of the next few pages you will also
hear the views of other key stakeholders in this debate.
Our other 'voices' are those of shoppers, a dietician,
a food brand, a retailer, a national newspaper and a
politician.
By looking at this issue from different
perspectives, we hope you will be able to understand
how the widespread adoption of GDA front-of-pack
labelling is starting to make a very real difference to the
way that food is produced, sold and consumed in this
country. In so doing, the food industry's work on
labelling is making an important contribution to
societal efforts to encourage British citizens to change
their diets for the better.
More information
References
- A report by Professor Bruce Traill of Reading University for the FDF
published in 2006 found that the food and drink sector accounts for
14% of all manufacturing in the UK (by value), directly employs some
470,000 people and indirectly accounts for a further 1.2 million jobs.
Other measures of the importance of food and drink manufacturing to
the UK economy include the fact our sector is an important partner of
UK farmers – buying two-thirds of what they produce – and exports
some £11.5bn worth of products every year
-
83% of consumers are aware of GDA labels, Millward Brown April 2008
- Use of GDA labels has risen from 29% to 63% between November
2006 and April 2008, Millward Brown
- Synovate research prepared for COI on behalf of the Food Standards
Agency, November 2005. Only 29% of consumers said they wanted
signpost labelling on all categories
Last reviewed: 27 Apr 2009