Would more labelling really help us eat less sugar?

The much-debated issue of nutritional labelling has been plunged into the spotlight yet again, with health experts calling for restrictions on child-friendly packaging and the addition of nutritional claims on yoghurts which are high in sugar. “Given only five per cent of yoghurts with child-friendly packaging would have a green-coloured label as being ‘healthy’ for sugar, food companies must make every effort to reduce the sugar in these products, particularly the ones targeted so explicitly towards children.” There is still scope to ensure front of pack labelling is as useful to consumers as possible The UK has had a voluntary front of pack labelling system in place since 2013, which combined “traffic light” labels, nutritional content per 100g and information to highlight levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt. But Mhairi Brown, policy and public affairs coordinator for Action on Salt and Action on Sugar, wrote in the New Food Magazine that the current labelling does not list added sugars, adding that “there is still scope to ensure FOPL is as useful to consumers as possible”. The new recommendations on sugar labelling comes after the publication of a report by the National Food Strategy last month, which revealed that poor diets contribute to around 64,000 deaths every year in England and £18bn is spent every year treating health conditions related to obesity. “Whilst the Government’s Obesity Strategy is taking bold steps to tackle unhealthy advertising and promotions, they now need to ensure food companies only use cartoons and health halo statements on their healthier products, allowing parents to see more of what is good for their children.” In July, the government set out plans under the “Health and Care Bill” to introduce powers that would enable ministers to introduce new food and drink labelling as part of measures to tackle obesity.