The NSW Public Health Bulletin this month includes an important paper by Jimmy Chun-Yu Louie and others: A comparison of two nutrition signposting systems for use in Australia.
Consumers are interested in making healthier food choices but the mandatory nutrition information panel currently in use in Australia is not easily understood or interpreted by most consumers. This paper reviews two nutrition signposting systems currently being considered for adoption in Australia to make the information more obvious. The authors conclude that a system similar to the colour-coded Traffic Light System is likely to be most useful.
Developed by the Food Standards Agency in the UK, where it is currently used, the CCTL system categorises the four key nutrients most associated with public health issues (fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt) as high, medium or low compared to a set of agreed criteria. This information is then portrayed as red, amber or green traffic lights on the package. The authors acknowledge there are limitations to this system but favour it with some modification.
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