Motion for leave to introduce a Bill (Standing Order No. 23)

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require simple, uniform nutritional labelling on the front of packaged foods;
and for connected purposes.

A very broad coalition of support for action is forming, following the extensive research commissioned by the Food Standards Agency and published earlier this year, which found that consumers were confused by the various different labelling formats on the front of packaging and wanted a single simplified system. The labelling approach found to be easiest for customers to understand is a combination of traffic light colours, high, medium, low text and percentage guideline daily amount-GDA-information. The FSA is now formally consulting stakeholders on its findings.

A wide range of retailers have already acted in response to consumer demand for simple at-a-glance information to help busy people to choose to be healthy. The Co-op, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Budgens and Londis, Booths and Boots are all using traffic light labelling on their products. The Co-op says:

"The health and wellbeing of our customers is important to us, which is why we use traffic lights as a way to convey information and help customers to make choices about the food that they eat".

ASDA and Marks & Spencer use a combination system. ASDA says:

"An overwhelming Majority of our shoppers have told us this is the style of labelling they want to see, so that's exactly what we're going to give them".

Marks & Spencer said:

"We aim to provide our customers with clear information-any details you might want or need to be able to make an informed choice about what you're eating".

An increasing number of manufacturers are using traffic lights in response to customer demand for simple information. It is very clear from their public statements about labelling that they see a benefit in the marketplace from listening and responding to customers' requirements.

The traffic light system came under fire from some sources when it was first being considered because of fears that it would mislead customers rather than allow them to distinguish between products, but as the system matures, many manufacturers are using clear, simple labelling to address the fat, sugar and salt content of their food, knowing that customers are finding it easy to make a choice based on quantifiable and easily comparable information.

There is also a clear awareness that customers want to be able to control the contents of what they eat, and that giving them the information is essential to allow them to do that. If retailers want customers to buy their goods, they have to give customers what they want. McCain, for example, has redesigned its packaging to include both the FSA traffic light and the GDA, as recently recommended, saying:

"Product reformation... means that most of our products are green and amber. McCain Rustic Oven chips have four green lights and have attracted younger users to the category."

The company is working to ensure that its products meet customers' needs. Sainsbury's uses the multiple traffic lights as a tool for redevelopment of its products, with whole categories reformulated to reduce the number of red traffic lights on the front of packs-giving customers what customers want. Marks & Spencer are promoting its improvements to its recipes with banners across the shops, announcing on its website that

"in the past two years we've removed over 400 tonnes of salt from our food."

It is saying that because that is what its customers want.

Yo Sushi, East Midlands Trains, National Express, Virgin Trains and Mysupermarket.co.uk are all using the FSA traffic light labelling system. The news might look good for customers, with such a wide range of suppliers responding to the need for a simple front-of-package labelling, but, unfortunately, we still have a long way to go before customers-busy people, shopping in a busy environment-can make quick decisions about what is best for them.

The Which? "Hungry for change" healthier choices progress report 2009 comments that

"the retailers and manufacturers who are already using the traffic light scheme have reported that it is having a positive impact, both in terms of enabling consumers to make more informed choices, but also by encouraging reformulation of recipes to produce more products with fewer reds, increasing the range of healthier food products on offer to consumers."

It continues:

"It is positive that a lot of products now carry nutrition information on front-of-pack as well as back-of-pack, and that many retailers and manufacturers are using the FSA's multiple traffic light labelling scheme. However, many are still not using the scheme, including two of the major retailers... and some of the main manufacturers despite research showing that it is the best approach. Until there is a consistent UK-wide scheme used across all products based on what works best, there will continue to be confusion".

It is really crucial that we get this right.

Experts reckon that about a quarter of all cancer deaths are caused by unhealthy diets and obesity. Strokes could drop by 13 per cent. if people reduced their daily salt intake by 3 grams. Heart disease is the UK's biggest killer, accounting for more than 200,000 deaths every year. Poor diets contribute significantly to the onset of heart disease, with diets that are high in fat, salt and sugar and low in fruit and vegetables accounting for 30 per cent. of all coronary heart disease deaths.

The British Heart Foundation has a very good example that supports the necessity to provide dietary information at point of sale. It reports that the snacks most often found in vending machines in leisure centres have an average caloric content of 203; it would take a seven-year-old 88 minutes of swimming in the leisure centre pool to burn off that many calories. It has been estimated that 20,000 premature deaths each year could be avoided by reducing daily salt intake to 6 grams; 3,500 more by reduction of fat in foods; and a further 3,500 by reduction of sugar to the recommended guideline daily amounts. So it is not surprising that people want to be in control of what they eat.

Over the summer, I carried out an extensive consultation with my constituents on the issue of front-of-package labelling and what they wanted to see. Overwhelmingly, people wanted simple at-a-glance information that was standard across all manufacturers so that they could choose easily between products-wherever and whatever they were buying.

The FSA has identified the single simple system that is best understood by consumers and it has some really heavyweight backers. The British Medical Association says that

"improved consistent labelling will help customers buy healthy food and will help them follow their doctor's advice".

The British Heart Foundation supports the FSA's approach to front-of-package signpost labelling as it offers instant help to customers at the point of sale. The British Dietetic Association says that

"it is important that one clear front-of-pack scheme is adopted so that manufacturers can enable consumers to make choices with confidence."

Diabetes UK says that

"it is vital that people with diabetes and those seeking to reduce the risk of developing the condition get information about foods to help make the right choices about what to eat. Providing information in different formats is likely to be a little better than giving no information at all, so it's really important that the food industry is consistent."

The National Heart Forum says:

"We know that consumers want a single authoritative nutritional labelling scheme they can rely on, whatever brand and wherever they shop".

The Royal College of General Practitioners

"strongly supports this easily understandable and usable tool to identify which foods constitute healthy choices".

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Physicians, the UK Public Health Association, the National Consumer Council, Netmums, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Stroke Association and Which?, together with huge numbers of our constituents, want simple uniform nutritional labelling on the front of packaged foods.

We in the House should do everything in our power to make it happen.

Question put and agreed to.

Ordered,

That Helen Southworth, Shona McIsaac, Mrs. Janet Dean, Joan Walley, Mr. Ian Cawsey, Christine Russell, Mr. Mike Hall, Ms Sally Keeble, Charlotte Atkins, Mr. Kevin Barron, Ann Coffey and Derek Twigg present the Bill.

Helen Southworth accordingly presented the Bill.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow and to be printed (Bill 158).