Justin King, chief executive at Sainsbury's has pledged the company's support for the Department of Health's new universal 'traffic light' labelling system and has called upon others in the industry to commit to the new scheme.
Commenting on the new format combining multiple traffic light and Reference Intakes, which the UK's Department of Health published today, 19 June, King said, "Sainsbury’s has always championed simple, clear nutritional labelling. We were the first to use traffic light nutritional labelling on front-of-pack eight years ago, and with traffic lights on over 9,000 lines we are the biggest user in the UK. We know they are the most effective way to help customers make at-a glance healthier choices."
He continued, "The food industry has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a consistent approach to front-of-pack labelling that will make it easier for customers to make informed healthier eating choices about the foods they buy. We hope all food retailers and manufacturers will sign up to the scheme for the benefit of UK consumer."
It is not King's first exhortation to the industry to introduce universal food labelling formats. Last October, speaking at the IGD Annual Conference, King called for the industry to put aside their differences on nutritional labelling and align behind a common format, and in August 2012 King wrote an op-ed on the Sainsbury's website about Tesco's recognition of the format, stating, "It may seem a small detail to some, but the more widespread adoption of front of pack labelling using both GDAs and multiple traffic lights will make it easier for all our customers to make healthier choices."
Sainsbury's was the first retailer to apply a front-of-pack 'multiple traffic light' (MTL) labelling system to products and is, according to the retailer, 'the most extensive adopter in the UK', with the traffic light labels currently on around 9000 Sainsbury's own-brand products. Changes to Sainsbury's own-brand packaging will be rolled out over an 18-month period, according to the retailer. (19 June)
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Ellen Lunney
