Tesco launches food ‘signposting’ scheme
Supermarket develops own system
Tesco is launching its own system for flagging up the nutritional value of foods rather than the goverment’s proposed ‘traffic light’ scheme.
The UK’s biggest retailer said its own label packs would display the amount of salt, fat, saturated fat, sugar and calories contained per serving in grams. These ‘signposts’ will also carry information about what proportion of the guideline daily amount this equated to.
Tesco said the labelling should help shoppers monitor their intake without having to do complicated calculations. The first of the ‘signpost’ labels will be seen in stores this week and will be rolled out over the coming months.
Marketing director Tim Mason said: “Signposts provide clear and easy-to-understand information in a way which gives customers the power to choose products that will help them follow a balanced diet.
“Because they are split into five main categories, the signposts also help customers who have specific dietary needs to keep a close eye on any area they might be worried about.
“It will now be easier than ever for customers to make healthy choices at a glance as they shop and without the need for a mathematics degree.”
The government has proposed a ‘traffic light’ system which flags up foods as red, amber and green according to their nutritional value, as part of its White Paper on improving the nation’s health.
However, the food industry has raised concerns about the system. The system has been dropped by Tesco after trials because it was felt to be too simplistic. The retailer said customers were unable to decide what amber meant, while foods such as dairy products labelled as red actually provided important nutrients like calcium.
