A report by the UK’s Food Advisory Committee has criticized misleading terms used on food labels. The study found that some labelers were being “economical with the truth” when describing products with terms such as ‘home-made’ and ‘natural’. The findings will be used to help lay out new guidelines to limit the “sloppy use” of these descriptions, forcing producers to find new ways to make their products attractive to consumers.
Consumers are being misled by some of the terms used on food labels, according to a report from the UK’s Food Advisory Committee. Words such as ‘fresh’, ‘natural’, ‘traditional’, and ‘home-made’ are liable to confuse consumers as they can be applied to products that are anything but. Factory produced jam has been labeled as ‘home-made’ while ‘farm fresh’ has been slapped on boxes of battery eggs. Three-quarters of the consumers who helped in the study regarded such terms as misleading. Criticism has also been leveled against labels such as ‘85% fat-free’, which should be regarded as a high fat content.
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Next week the Food Standards Authority, which commissioned the report, will begin consultation to establish a new set of guidelines for the food industry. Once the standards have been approved, spot checks will be carried out to make sure that food labels are precise. Enforcement authorities will find it easier to prosecute suppliers that are deliberately trying to mislead consumers and will be able to fine offenders up to $5,000.
“People have a right to clear and meaningful labels so that they know what they are really buying,” said Suzi Leather, deputy chair of the FSA. “This goes to the very heart of consumer choice.”
The images shown on food labels and in advertising campaigns have also come under scrutiny in the two-year study. The report recommends that pictures should be covered by similar guidelines to words, and criticizes the use of images that suggest the product was made in a domestic kitchen when it was really made on a production line.
The new standards should certainly make it easier for consumers to understand exactly what they are buying. It will also provide a fairer environment for manufacturers that are genuinely producing food in the manner described. Other producers will just have to come up with new, more innovative ways to make their products seem more appealing to consumers without falling foul of the new regulations.
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To view related research reports, please follow the links below:- Guide to Nutrition Labelling and Nutrition Claims in the European Union Handbook on the Labelling of Genetically Modified Foods, Ingredients and Additives |
