New food labelling system given the green light

People across the UK will now find it easier to make healthier choices about the food they eat with the introduction of a new front-of-pack nutrition labelling system, the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland has announced.

The new label introduced today is colour-coded red, amber and green, and is designed to help consumers see ‘at a glance’ what is in their food. The label also highlights ‘percentage reference intakes’ (formerly known as guideline daily amounts) to show how much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugars, and energy is in a food product.

Red means the food or drink is high in a particular nutrient that we should try to cut down on, eat less often or in small amounts.

Amber means medium, and if a food contains mostly amber you can eat it most of the time.

Green means low, and the more green lights a label displays the healthier the food choice.

The new labels come after detailed discussions with the food industry, health organisations and other partners to agree the proposed system and what the label would look like.

http://www.food.gov.uk/northern-ireland/news-updates/news/2013/jun/fop-announcement#.UcisOJRwbIU