With recent findings suggesting that British women are the most overweight in Europe, and with their male counterparts not far behind, there’s never been more emphasis on healthy eating. One of the most important ways of eating a healthier diet is to cut down on fat - in particular saturated fat - salt and added sugar.

Now, two rival food labelling systems: the traffic light system, endorsed by the government and organisations such as the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and; nutritional front-of-pack signposting, which outlines, as a percentage, guideline daily amounts (GDA), and is the method favoured by many food suppliers, claim to help consumers do just that. But what works best?

The Traffic Light System

The traffic light scheme uses traffic light colours on the front of food packaging to indicate the number of grams of fat, salt and sugar per serving size, each colour-coded to let consumers know exactly what this means. A red colour suggests that the product is high in one of the undesirable nutrients and should only be eaten occasionally, while orange indicates a medium content and green a low one.

The aim is to buy foods with more green and amber lights than reds, still enjoying products with red lights occasionally, but trying to keep them to a minimum.

The upshot is that consumers can see at a glance whether food contains unhealthily high levels of anything, and limit their consumption of that product. They can also compare similar products in a hurry and know immediately that the one with the most green lights is the healthiest choice.

The system is generally used on packaging of foods with a nutritional content that the public tends to find difficult to decipher, such as pizzas, ready-made meals, fish fingers, sandwiches, crumbed chicken, breakfast cereals, burgers, pies and sausages.

More detailed nutritional information and the full list of ingredients can still be found on the back of the pack.

The theory is that this system is simple to use for busy people, and that even children can be included and taught to choose healthy eating options.

The benefit of the traffic light labelling system is that it enables consumers to assess foods at a glance, says independent body the Food Standards Agency. It’s also backed by the British Medical Association.

The Food Standards Agency wants all food producers and supermarkets to employ the system, saying that it is the easiest way to help consumers choose healthy products.

Shops and manufacturers who have stepped up include Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Asda, Budgeons, McCain, the New Covent Garden Food Company and Moy Park.

The Rival System

But while the traffic light system has been welcomed by consumer groups and retailers, some major players in the food industry disagree, saying that colour coding is misleading and too simplistic. Tesco and a number of other manufacturers have come up with an alternative labelling scheme known as nutritional front-of-pack signposting.

This system lists the levels of salt, fat and sugar in grams per serving on the front of the pack, along with their percentage of the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA). This is a guide to the maximum daily amount of each nutrient that consumers should attempt not to exceed.

Tesco says that the traffic light system is too crude and simplistic, while GDA labelling offers more detailed information, and that there is no such thing as ‘bad food’. But critics claim it’s simply a question of keeping sales up and gaining a competitive advantage over other companies.

Other players that have refused to adopt the traffic light system are Morrisons, Walkers, Kellogg’s, Danone, Kraft and Nestle.

The Battle

Both the Food Standards Agency and the National Heart Forum believe that the nutritional signposting system is flawed, misleading and confusing.

They say that listing the nutritional signposting as a percentage creates the impression that the GDA is a target to aim for instead of a limit, and is therefore easily deceptive if consumers don’t read the small print.

Furthermore, the more complicated scheme is confusing and does not help the customer to make easy food decisions.

The food watchdog even says that packaging often crams the packaging with promotional claims and contradictory labels besides the GDAs, perhaps using the system to manipulate customers and sell products.

What the public wants

The public seems to overwhelmingly prefer the traffic light system, with 80 per cent of the 17 000 polled Netmoms website users giving it the green light. Parents said that traffic lights were much easier to read, simpler and more convenient for people with rushed lifestyles.

Visit www.eatwell.gov.uk/trafficlights