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The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has warned that new measures on food labelling proposed by the European Commission (EC) this week do not go far enough.

The EC’s plans, announced on Wednesday, would see manufacturers obliged to display six measures on food packaging, showing the levels of energy, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and salts contained.

However, the scheme excludes alcoholic drinks and does not include the widely-supported "traffic light" system.

Ruairi O’Connor, policy and public affairs manager at the BHF, said: "We believe the European Commission should have gone a step further and backed mandatory colour coded traffic lights on food labels. Research shows that these are more effective than GDA labels in helping people see what’s in the food they buy."

The EC’s scheme has yet to be approved by the European Parliament and member states, and it could therefore be some time before they become law.

Mr O’Connor added: "We urge MEPs and policy makers in the UK to build on these proposals, and ensure traffic lights are applied on UK food products."

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Industry.