Traffic light labelling

Label confusion

Which? believes that supermarket shelves full of different, contrasting food labels will confuse shoppers. And the public agrees – almost three quarters (73%) said different types of labels would be confusing.

One consistent, traffic light scheme across all manufacturers and retailers will allow people to make informed and healthy decisions every time they purchase food.

A simple traffic light system

Which? wants all food companies to use the Food Standards Agency (FSA) ‘traffic light’ colours on the front of their labels. The traffic light front-of-pack nutrition label uses red, amber and green to indicate whether fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt levels are high, medium or low.

Asda, The Co-operative Group, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S, McCain, New Covent Garden Food Co, Budgens/Londis, Avondale, Moy Park, Bombay Halwa, Brittania and S&B Herba have already agreed to use the FSA system.

Guideline Daily Amounts

However, some retailers and manufacturers including Somerfield, Morrisons, Tesco, Pepsico, Danone, Kellogg's, Nestle and Kraft have rejected traffic lights in favour of a label without colours showing Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs). Which? research shows that traffic lights are the best way to help people make healthy choices at a glance.

Which? wants Tesco and the other manufacturers promoting an alternative scheme to base their system on what the research shows works best for consumers, not what works best from a marketing perspective. They need to stop hiding behind GDAs and be honest about whether or not their products are high, medium or low in fat, sugar or salt.

European Commission proposals

We’re disappointed that the European Commission has recommended a system based on GDAs without traffic light colours.The proposals will need to go through a lengthy process of discussion by the European Parliament and national governments before becoming law. We want to make sure that the system which is developed is the one which works best for consumers.

Why the traffic light system is best

It’s easy to use - The traffic light labelling scheme gives consumers, at a glance, information about whether a product is high, medium or low in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt. Which? research shows that 97% of respondents were able to correctly identify and compare levels of nutrients using the traffic light system.

It’s been extensively researched - The FSA recommended that the food industry use multiple traffic lights on their products after extensive research, including interviews with over 2,600 people, found it to be the best system.

It helps all consumers - The FSA research, reinforced by our own, found that the GDA scheme was confusing for some consumers, particularly those from lower socio-economic groups.

Traffic lights interpret guideline daily amounts - The Which? and FSA research shows that consumers value traffic light colour coding as a way of interpreting what the levels shown mean, e.g. is 20% of your GDA for salt high, medium or low?

It has EU-wide support – A research review by BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, found that an interpretative element, such as the use of colour coding to indicate nutrient levels, is the most helpful approach for consumers. BEUC supports multiple traffic lights.

Making it easier

To help you interpret food labels more easily, we've made a simple food shopper's guide you can print, cut out and tuck into your wallet or purse.

More information

European Commission proposal to overhaul EU food labelling rules Full details of the EC proposals.