A consistent labeling system will be adopted in the UK from next year. With the help of color codes, food labels will tell consumers how much calories and fat, salt, sugar content is in a particular food product. The nutritional information will be clearly displayed on the front of the pack of food.
The food labelling system is voluntary. However, the food industry is likely to comply with the decision completely.
"By having a consistent system we will all be able to see, at a glance, what is in our food. This will help us all choose healthier options and control our calorie intake," said Anna Soubry, Public Health Minister, according to BBC.
Health officials and consumers have been moving for a "traffic light" labelling system to let consumers know just how much salt is in any given food stuff, for about a decade. In the new system, 'red' is for too much of a particular food component, 'amber' for medium, and 'green' for low or recommended levels of salt.
"In the absence of a single, clear, simple labelling system, consumers really are at the mercy of the marketing department," says Richard Ayre, a former member of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), according to BBC News.
"We know [people] can be convinced by being told that a product is one of their five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but they're also having their entire daily allowance of sugar, or of salt, or sometimes of saturated fat."
This move is an attempt to reduce obesity levels and bring down the percentage of people being affected by food-related diseases.
In the UK, especially, salt has been linked to heart diseases and strokes. And, recently, has been believed to be a leading cause of stomach cancer.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has found that stomach cancer can also result from excessive intake of salt. It has been found to do damage to the stomach lining. An estimated 14 percent of the total number of stomach cancer cases can be avoided by reducing the amount of salt and fat in one's food.
Each year in the UK, about 7,500 new cases of stomach cancer are diagnosed and almost 5,000 people die from the disease. Cutting salt intake to six grams a day could prevent 1,050 of these cases, according to the WCRF.
It has been found that the people in the UK tend to consume an average of 8.6 grams of salt every day, mostly in the form of processed food. This is 43 percent higher than the maximum recommended amount, which is six grams.
Over the last few years, Britain came close to implementing the 'traffic light' labelling system. But, strong opposition from big food corps kept it from happening. Companies like Sainsbury's, Co-op and Waitrose took it on - but others like Tesco, Morrisons and Kellogg's stuck with GDAs, or Guideline Daily Amounts.
However, Barbara Gallani, director of food safety and science at the Food and Drink Federation says that the food companies "are committed to continuing to provide clear nutrition information to consumers" and "will be actively engaged in further discussions with the department of health following today's announcement," reports Huffington Post UK.
