Food Industry Attacks FSA Label Proposals

The Food and Drink Federation has warned the Food Standards Agency (FSA) against labelling foods ‘good’ or ‘bad’ without taking account of consumption behaviour.

The manufacturers’ body spoke out after the FSA launched an eight- week consultation over its proposed nutrient-profiling model. The model is a scoring system Ofcom will use to identify which foods could face advertising restrictions.

It will rate food out of 10 for fat, sugar, salt and energy content, while marks out of five are given for healthy content such as vegetables.

The industry has argued that the system does not take into account consumers’ differing lifestyle patterns.

The government’s Public Health White Paper requires ‘a change in the nature and balance of food promotion’.

Sustain, the organisation that lobbies for better food and farming, has told the food industry to stop trying to block attempts to bring in more stringent legislation.

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Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Aug 3, 2005