Supermarket chain Morrisons has today called on its competitors to commit to “greater consistency” across food labelling following calls for the grocer to adopt the traffic light system.
During a Department of Health consultation in May, Morrisons was among a number of high street retailers consulted on front-of-pack labelling, which aims to outline the nutritious content of goods for consumers prior to purchase.
Currently, the grocer uses GDA which are approximate guidelines on nutrients and calories as opposed to the traffic light system, which categorises food as red, amber or green depending on its content, with green representing the most nutritious option.
It is hoped that a streamlined solution will diminish confusion for consumers and allow them to make informed decisions, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley explained back in May.
Speaking at the time he said: “We must do everything we can to help people make healthier choices.
“Offering a single nutrition labelling system makes common sense, it would help us all to make healthier choices and keep track of what we eat.”
Achieving greater consistency in the content and presentation of front-of-pack labelling was the primary objective of the consultation, though Morrisons believes that more needs to be done to improve the information given to shoppers.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “Morrisons displays front of pack nutrition information in the form of %GDA. We believe this system is easy to understand, comprehensive and objective, allowing customers to achieve a balanced diet.
“As we set out in our response to the recent Government consultation on this issue, we are open-minded about alternative forms of nutrition labelling.
“We believe greater consistency between retailers and manufacturers is in the consumer interest, but there are a number of issues that need to be addressed before this can be achieved.”
