Shoppers want improved nutrition labelling to help them make healthier choices, Which? reveals
New Which? research has found that shoppers want clearer and more consistent labelling on food to help them make healthier choices, as the consumer champion calls on the government to update and simplify the current front of pack traffic light labelling scheme and make sure that all manufacturers and retailers use it.
For over a decade, the UK has used a traffic light labelling scheme to help shoppers identify how healthy or unhealthy products are when they are doing the weekly shop.
However, this labelling - which is government-recommended for the front of packaging but is not mandatory - is used inconsistently, with some shops and manufacturers not including the traffic light scheme on their packaging, or providing it without the traffic light colour coding. For example, Iceland does not use the traffic light labelling scheme that the government recommends on its own-brand products.
When Which? looked at popular frozen pizza brands to see how they approached traffic light labelling, the consumer champion found a variety of approaches to marketing the same product.
For example, Crosta Mollica, Pizza Express and Italpizza la Numero Uno did not have any front of pack nutrition labelling. Other brands, such as Dr Oetker and Chicago Town, had black and white labelling without any of the traffic light colours. This inconsistency in approach can make it difficult for shoppers to easily compare items and see which are high in fat, sugar or salt, for example.
Alternative schemes have emerged in other countries since the UK adopted its national scheme, most notably an ‘A to E’ colour-coded Nutri-score scheme that gives an assessment of how healthy the overall product is, rather than a breakdown by key nutrients as in the UK scheme. Chile also uses a warning scheme that highlights high levels of unhealthy nutrients in foods.
Which? has now conducted in-depth research, including capturing real-time insights through people’s mobile phones while they go about their daily routines - like shopping or looking through their kitchen cupboards - to understand how the current traffic light labelling scheme is working for consumers, their views on these other schemes and what they think the best scheme is.
A third (33%) of supermarket participants said unprompted that the nutrition label was the first thing they looked at on the front of pack when choosing a product in the supermarket. This came third to considering the brand (40%) or the price (37%) first.
People most often used traffic lights when deciding between snacks (56%), dairy products (33%) and breakfast cereals (27%).
Nearly half (47%) of participants said they found the traffic light label easy to understand, making it simple to use without much thought and one in four (27%) said it helps them make quick decisions while shopping.
One participant said: “I appreciate the traffic light system for its convenience in helping me quickly determine if a product is a good or bad choice, its simplicity which makes it easy to teach my children to use in the future, and its role in ensuring I make healthy choices for my kids despite my limited time.”
Which? also conducted several in-depth focus groups to evaluate how well other front of pack nutrition labelling systems, such as the Nutri-score system used in Europe and the Chilean warning labels, helped shoppers identify healthier foods. Participants deliberated what they believed were the strengths and weaknesses of each label individually before comparing all three schemes side by side.
After this deliberation, the traffic light labelling system was almost everyone’s preferred label. Participants felt that these labels should be a requirement on all food products and that, with a few simplifications, it would support more confident, healthier choices.
The most common suggestions to improve the traffic light scheme were more prominent placement on the packaging, increased size and readability.
People also highlighted the need to raise awareness and make the scheme more simple to understand - for example, by removing the percentage reference intakes, which can be difficult for some to understand, and making the recommended serving sizes more realistic and consistent.
These suggestions echo what participants said in Which?’s research capturing real-time insights on people’s phones. Some of the key issues raised by these participants were the need for more prominent placement on the packaging (27%) and increased size and readability (25%).
One participant said: “I dislike that companies can manipulate the traffic light system by labelling food content based on a small portion size, even though most people are likely to consume the entire product in one sitting, which undermines my trust in these companies.”
The UK and EU recently committed to agreeing an Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement which may have implications for the UK’s ability to regulate food labelling. However, this agreement allows for exemptions and given the scale of the UK’s obesity crisis, Which? is calling on the government to push for an exception for front of pack nutrition labelling and introduce a UK mandatory front of pack nutrition labelling scheme.
This should build on the existing traffic light labelling system to make it work even better for shoppers - for example, by ensuring it is used prominently and consistently, considering whether the percentage reference intakes that many people find confusing should be removed and including clearer, more consistent portion sizes so people can make more informed decisions about which product to buy.
It needs to be widely promoted and backed up with effective enforcement and oversight by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Food Policy, said:
“The UK is in the midst of an obesity crisis and it’s clear that a better approach to front of pack labelling is needed to help shoppers make healthier choices.
“Which? is calling on the government to ensure that all manufacturers and retailers use front of pack nutrition labelling - ideally by making this mandatory. Our research shows that people still prefer traffic light nutrition labelling, but that the current scheme needs updating so that it is clearer and simpler and works better for consumers.
“The new system should be backed up with effective enforcement and oversight by the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland - so shoppers have full trust in the labels on their food.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
Research
Streetbees, on behalf of Which?, captured real-time insights from 512 people via their mobile phones while they go about their daily routines - like food shopping or looking through their kitchen cupboards. This included 52 participants completing a detailed supermarket task and a further 460 participants taking part in an in-home task.
Using an innovative AI-driven mobile app, the study observed behaviours naturally, without steering participants or priming them on what to notice about the Multiple Traffic Light scheme.
For qualitative research, this represents an exceptionally large sample, allowing us to explore consumer behaviours, decision-making and experiences in far greater depth and across a much broader range of households across the country than is typically possible of traditional qualitative research. The research was conducted in April 2025.
Thinks, on behalf of Which?, conducted four 90-minute deliberative focus groups with 31 participants. The groups explored how participants understand, interpret, and value three front of pack nutrition labels (Multiple Traffic Lights scheme, Nutriscore and Chilean Warning Label) when given time to reflect and compare the labels across different food products. The research was conducted in June 2025.
About Which?
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