Apples for Health- Traffic light food labeling effective

Traffic light food labeling effective

WOOLLOOMOOLOO, Australia, May 12 (UPI) -- A traffic light food label that uses red, amber or green dots to rate a food's salt, sugar and saturated fat content is effective, Australian researchers said.

The study found consumers are five times more likely to identify healthy foods when packages have color-coded labels instead of the numerically presented "daily intake system" showing the proportion of the government recommended adult daily intake for key nutrients. In another version of the traffic light system, a single colored dot giving an overall rating is added.

The Cancer Council in New South Wales, Australia, tested two variations of the traffic light system and two variations of the percentage daily intake system on 790 Australians. Each person was exposed to only one type of nutrition label, allowing each system to be evaluated on it own merits without the influence of the others.

"The food industry tends to favor the percentage daily intake method, but our research indicates that the traffic light system is the most effective and that a consistent labeling approach across all food products is needed," study leader Bridget Kelly said in a statement. "This is unlikely to be achieved without government regulation."

The study findings were presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam.