New packs
Obesity strategy champions smaller pack portionsstevenkiernan, 23 January 2008Be the first to comment on this article “Energy dense” and salty foods could be packed in smaller portion sizes as part of a government plan to reduce obesity and improve England’s health.
The FSA favours the traffic light system, which uses red, amber and green labels to indicate the levels of fat, salt and sugar in food, as well as specifying the quantities of each. In addition, a Healthy Food Code of Good Practice will be produced with the food and drink industry to include these proposals and to challenge restaurants and food outlets to help Britons reduce their consumption of saturated fat, salt and sugar. However, the announcement of a uniform labelling scheme on food packs raised the hackles of Tesco, which said it would not abide by the findings of the research. The multiple said its Guideline Daily Allowance (GDA) system, which states the number of calories, as well as a percentage indicating the proportion of the recommended daily amount of each nutrient contained in products, now appeared on 20,000 products and was "changing eating habits for the better". "We cannot honestly agree to an unproven FSA scheme that can only be used on a much narrower range of products," said a spokesman today. Sainsbury's uses a version of the FSA's system called Wheel of Health. Waitrose and Asda also backed the FSA system, although Asda also favoured the inclusion of GDA percentages on packaging. The packaging industry is already working towards smaller portion sizes and improving or adapting packaging and applying technologies to increase the shelf life of products, as part of the Waste and Resources Action Programme's Love Food Hate Waste campaign, launched last November. The campaign will report next month on consumer research into food waste. Leading industry players from the bakery, dairy, ready meal and frozen food sectors will also discuss common problems at category workshops during 2008 and devise solutions to meet consumer needs while reducing packaging. OBESITY STRATEGY The £372m cross-government obesity strategy has five key elements: • Healthy growth and development of children • Promoting healthier food choices • Building physical activity into our lives • Creating incentives for better health • Personalised advice and support Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives can be found here Speak Your Mind |
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