From ABC, May 10, 2007
STATES MULL HEALTHY FOOD LABELLING SYSTEM
Australia's health ministers are considering a front-of-pack food labelling system to help people choose healthy products.
The group responsible for setting food standards in Australia agrees with a Tasmanian doctor that current nutrition labels can be confusing.
Dr Trevor Beard from the Menzies Research Institute wants a colour-coding system "to help people to understand the dietary guidelines".
The so-called traffic lights label uses red, amber and green dots to indicate the levels of salt, sugar and fats in a product.
"Some of the best-sellers would have red lights," Dr Beard said.
"That's, of course, the worst nightmare for a company like Kellogg's."
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand spokeswoman Lydia Buchtmann says the current labels are difficult to read.
"Not everyone understands those food labels," she said.
"So, for example, they can see how much salt is in the thing they're eating but they're not sure how much they should be consuming."
Ms Buchtmann says state and territory health ministers are considering a number of options.
"They'll be coming up with a final report in October this year and then once they've done that, we'll see if we at Food Standards have to take any further action," she said.
"But if we do develop a standard, then it'll be through the normal rounds of public comment out there."