Traffic Light Labeling

A growing number of supermarkets and food manufacturers are using traffic light colours on the labels of some products to help to make your choice.

• Food products with traffic light labels on the front of the pack show at-a-glance if the food you are thinking about buying has high, medium or low amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt, helping you get a better balance.
• In addition to traffic light colours, it is possible to see the number of grams of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt in what the manufacturer or retailer suggests as a 'serving' of the food.
• So, if you see a red light on the front of the pack, you know the food is high in something we should be trying to cut down on. It's fine to have the food occasionally, or as a treat, but try to keep an eye on how often you choose these foods, or try eating them in smaller amounts.
• If you see amber, the food isn't high or low in the nutrient, so this is an OK choice most of the time, but you might want to go for green for that nutrient some of the time.Green means the food is low in that nutrient. The more green lights, the healthier the choice.
• The traffic light colours will make it easier to compare products at-a-glance. The label also tells that how much of each nutrient is in a portion, so if two labels have similar colours you can compare these figures, and choose the one that is lower to make a healthier choice.

Different Traffic Lights:

The manufacturers and retailers are using traffic light labeling on some or all of their products. They use different traffic light labeling to increase their business in the service sector, with train companies such as GNER and Virgin, Roadchef motorway service stations, shoppers websites and so on.