Misleading food labels are conning consumers

Date published: 01 February 2012

"Consumers are being misled into thinking the food they buy is healthier than it is.” said BuryEuro MP and former Chair of the European Parliament’s Consumer Affairs Committee, Arlene McCarthy.

"Busy parents want the best for their children and foods with labels that make them look "healthy" are ruthlessly targeting them."

“If you see a product on a supermarket shelf, and it says 'less sugar' or 'less fat' you'd think it was healthy. But all this could mean is that they have reduced the levels of fat, sugar or salt by as little as 15% and it could still be very unhealthy.”

Labour Euro MPs have been taking the lead in the European Parliament in challenging these misleading labels and proposing new EU-wide laws which will allow shoppers to trust these claims.

Arlene added: "If a chocolate spread, for example, said it had '20% less saturated fat' you might think it was the healthier choice. In fact, it could still be the chocolate spread with the most saturated fat on the market. Consumers are naturally influenced by health and nutrition claims when comparing similar products on the supermarket shelf, and we can't allow those claims to be misleading."

"People live busy lives; they want to make good food choices but often don’t have the time to stand in supermarkets comparing food labels. We want to encourage the food industry to take bolder steps to increase the healthiness of their food and make it easier for us all to follow a healthy diet.

"It’s good if the food industry is reformulating their products to reduce the levels of fat, salt and sugar, but it should result in a healthier diet, not an excuse to increase sales of fundamentally unhealthy food.”

"Manufacturers need limits on what they can claim, and as food is manufactured and marketed right across the EU in the Single Market, these changes need to be made at a European level.”