Exporting food products to the UK: How to apply the UK Traffic light to your food label

Launched in 2006, the traffic light label is one of many forms of Front of Pack (FOP) labelling around the world intended to support consumers in making informed choices about the products they buy. It uses visual cues to summarise the nutrient profiles of products (sugar, carbohydrates, salt and fat) giving them a red, orange, green rating based on recommended daily intake levels.  The greener the product, the healthier it is suggested to be.

How to apply the traffic light labelling to your food label

The traffic light system was introduced as a voluntary scheme in 2013 and it continues to be voluntary today. This means it is not mandatory for products sold in the UK to use this, though most retailers have opted in.

Should a food business operator choose to use it, there are several regulations that must be followed to ensure food labelling compliance in the UK, these include:

• The panel must include either energy only or all the macronutrient levels (sugar, salt, fat, carbohydrates and energy). It can not include just energy and sugar for example.
• Energy must be given as per 100g/ml and per portion

The FSA has developed a useful guidance document which details a step by step process for how to compliantly use the scheme on labelling linked here.

Does traffic light labelling work for all products?

The challenge of developing a “one size fits all” scheme such as traffic light labelling is that it is not 100% full proof. In efforts to maintain simplicity, the colour coding can poorly reflect the bigger picture nutrient content of some products. For example, a fresh and natural fruit juice may have a similar rating as coca cola because of sugar content, however, nutritionally, fruit juice is healthier. Nuts are another example where the fat content may be high, but these fats are an important part of a balanced diet.

Will traffic light labelling become mandatory?

As part of government efforts to fight the obesity crisis, there are reviews of nutrition and health related guidance which could mean schemes like traffic light labelling are further regulated. With moves being made in the EU to develop harmonised FOP labelling, and the recent High Fat, Salt, Sugar advertising regulations still on the cards, we could see a shift from voluntary to mandatory labelling.

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