Supermarket head offices are buzzing with talk about nutritional food labels, so you'd think their shoppers would be equally enthusiastic. But the truth is that they've passed some people by. "I hadn't noticed any new labels - I just thought they were now on the front of packets instead of the back," says financial secretary Laura Ashton, 28.
Others may have cottoned on to the new labels but aren't paying particularly close attention; some only bother to read them at certain times, on certain products, or if they're on a particular eating plan.
Claire, 34, an office worker, has a different reason to check up. "I always read labels and before becoming pregnant my main concern was fat and calorie content," she says. "Now I use them to check for fibre, fat and protein and nut allergies."
It's not just the supermarket chains' initiatives that have made the issue so high profile -there's also the small matter of a huge government campaign to slim down the nation, starting with the younger generation. Ofcom's clampdown on 'junk food' advertising to children under 16 has now kicked in and although the grocery industry is resigned to the change, many are hugely critical that healthy, natural products such as cheese, honey, Marmite, raisins and over 80% of breakfast cereals are being classified as junk food by the Food Standard Agency's Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM), which was used to underpin the ban.
While the FSA has now agreed to begin a review of its NPM this summer in answer to industry pressure and the Weigh It Up! campaign forged by our sister title The Grocer, the potentially simple issue of front-of-pack nutritional labelling is now equally contentious. The FSA's traffic lights, which signal whether products are high, medium or low in fat, salt and sugar, with a red, orange or green label, may be the government's labelling of choice, but it's feared that, like the NPM, it will scare consumers away from eating products such as cheese, which although full of calcium and nutritious in small quantities, qualifies for red labels.
This has not stopped Waitrose planning to use the coloured labels on products in recommended food categories, or Sainsbury's, which uses the traffic-light system as part of its Wheel of Health.
But Tesco, Somerfield and Morrisons are all championing the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) system instead. Tesco is committed to labelling all its own-label products while front-of-pack GDAs feature on 70% of Somerfield's own-label food, and 2,500 of Morrisons' lines now carry GDAs. It aims to include all own-label foods by March 2008.
Asda hasn't made any final decisions but a spokeswoman says: "We think a combination of colour-coding coupled with GDA declarations could be the way forward and are working closely with the FSA and other bodies to trial this on our products."
With all these different opinions, it's no wonder some shoppers don't seem to know what kind of information they should expect to see on a label - some cite GMs, artificial flavourings and alcoholic units, for example. Others are unsure about how they should use the information. "It's hard to work out what you should take notice of and how it compares to what you should be eating on a daily basis," says Eleanor Sandford, 37, a journalist. "The labels look different depending on where you shop."
Have they made a difference though? Sainsbury's research shows that 74% of its shoppers believe traffic lights have made their buying habits healthier. Mary Tugwell, 62, a company director, says: "I like to see the calorie content of food, how much protein or fat something has got in it and if it contains additives. I've definitely started buying more of the 'amber' and 'green' food than the 'red' under the traffic light system."
Adrian Varney, 38, an accountant, adds: "Stories about health have changed my buying habits. Where there are labels I will check and if they are too calorific I'll put them back."
Sainsbury's gets the biggest thumbs up from shoppers we asked. "The Wheel of Health is very easy to understand as it is gives you a quick summary on the front, so you don't have to hunt around for it," says Mandy York, 46, an office worker.
However, most of our shoppers claim the new labels haven't affected their shopping behaviour - surely, one of the key aims of all these health initiatives. "I've always been conscious of trying to eat a healthy balanced diet, and I don't think the labelling initiatives or media stories have made me change my eating habits," insists Claire Hodges.
But if they do want advice about what to look for or to eat, it seems that consumers would rather rely on packaging than go to store staff for advice. Some have been failed by shopworkers in the past, such as 66-year-old Fred Williams, who reports that he's asked store staff questions about labels but that they couldn't answer his question. Adds Irene Jackman: "I'd never ask shop staff about it nutrition - I expect I would know more about it than them."n
Consumers have their say
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Jon Gregory 32, graphic designer London
"I never read food labels because I'm not interested in them or nutritional information, although I've always made an effort not to buy unhealthy food. I've seen the traffic light labels and they seem pretty easy to understand, although the other day I realised just how many calories were in my favourite prawn mayonnaise sandwiches - I was amazed!"
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Christine Giles 46, shop owner Brighton
"I especially like the Sainsbury's Wheel of Health as it makes the information pretty clear. You can see what's 'red', so not as good for you, but I'll still buy something that's highlighted as being red. I just know it's bad for me and would buy it just as a treat."
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Fred Williams 66, printer Brighton
"The new labels are confusing because there doesn't seem to be a uniform standard. But I tend to read the papers rather than labels to get information about unhealthy food - that's where you're more likely to see news about products such as Turkey Twizzlers."
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Mary Tugwell 62, company director Brighton
"I don't like Tesco's labels as they don't tell me what I want - it would be better to know how the fat and protein content of certain foods compares to your Recommended Daily Amounts. I think labels are confusing overall and the food industry should all use the same system - at the moment you don't know what's good and what's bad."
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Clare Lawson 32, accountant Hassocks
"I look at fat content on labels but also always check out sugar and salt levels on food that I'm buying for my baby daughter as I'm conscious of her getting too much. The labels are useful as store staff would not know that much about those things"
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Emily Harbeson 26, book designer London
"I tend to look at food labels on snack foods that are more unhealthy or when I'm feeling guilty about what may be in them. I'm also buying fewer things that are bad for me these days. I don't fully understand nutritional labels but I think I can get the information I need from them."
Has the number of customer complaints about the price of goods increased recently?
