Warning issued about need for improved food labelling

A group of concerned organisations have called on the government to make improvements to how food is labelled so that consumers can more easily check what is in their food.
The group, which includes the charity Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundatio, the Children’s Food Campaign and consumer lobbyists Which?, has issued a warning to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley in a bid to make food labelling clearer and easier to understand.
At the beginning of July there is a European Union (EU) vote about the problem, making it timely that the group have recommended that mandatory front-of-pack labelling should be introduced in the UK. Such information would include details on energy, fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar.
Stella Valerkou, senior policy officer at Diabetes UK, commented “Nutrition labelling helps people to understand the nutritional content of the food they are buying, and can empower them to make healthier food choices, helping to prevent Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.”
She added “Independent research shows that consumers value information about these nutrients on the front of the pack, and information about all five is already displayed widely in the UK. Clear mandatory FOP food labelling is an important part of creating an environment which helps make healthy choices, easy choices.”