Simpler food labelling system under consideration
ABC News Online today reports that "Australia's health ministers are considering a front-of-pack food labelling system to help people choose healthy products."
According to the ABC, "Dr Trevor Beard from the Menzies Research Institute wants a colour-coding system to help people to understand the dietary guidelines. The so-called traffic lights label uses red, amber and green dots to indicate the levels of salt, sugar and fats in a product."
The proposers believe this simpler graphic warning system could help to overcome consumer confusion over the complexity of nutritional guidelines currently used on food packaging.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann advised that state and territory health ministers are considering a number of options.
"They'll be coming up with a final report in October this year and then once they've done that, we'll see if we at Food Standards have to take any further action," she said.
"But if we do develop a standard, then it'll be through the normal rounds of public comment out there."
According to the ABC, "Dr Trevor Beard from the Menzies Research Institute wants a colour-coding system to help people to understand the dietary guidelines. The so-called traffic lights label uses red, amber and green dots to indicate the levels of salt, sugar and fats in a product."
The proposers believe this simpler graphic warning system could help to overcome consumer confusion over the complexity of nutritional guidelines currently used on food packaging.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann advised that state and territory health ministers are considering a number of options.
"They'll be coming up with a final report in October this year and then once they've done that, we'll see if we at Food Standards have to take any further action," she said.
"But if we do develop a standard, then it'll be through the normal rounds of public comment out there."
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