The state body advising France's government on public health policy has backed the introduction of nutrition labels with five colours.
The Le Haut Conseil de la Santé Publique (HCSP) said a five-colour scale – green, yellow, orange, pink and red – would allow consumers to swiftly identify the nutritional quality of food products and make comparisons between foods.
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France's food industry federation, the ANIA, reiterated its opposition to the colour code which it described as "simplistic", intimating its views were not being taken into account.
"The debate on nutrititional information is very important but we must avoid reducing it to five colours," the ANIA's president, Jean-Philippe Girard, warned. "Each of the interested partes can and must contribute to it (the debate) based on their knowledge of consumers, food consumption trends and the nutritional challenges."
A spokesman for France's Ministry of Health told just-food colour-coded labels – borne out of a government commitment to tackle obesity and promote balanced eating – could be introduced by the end of the year. The French legislature will debate the measure in the coming weeks.
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