Helping consumers make healthy choices

The Australian Government has announced it is commited to assisting consumers make healthier choices by providing simpler and more easily understood nutrition labelling on foods.

It has agreed to:-

1. Developing a front of pack labelling system. It has rejected the 'traffic light model' proposed in the Blewett Report as the evidence for its effectiveness is limited.
2. Providing back of pack labelling with clarification on the type of added sugars ( eg fructose, sucrose etc), added fats ( eg milk or vegetable) and added vegetable oils ( eg palm or sunflower ) mentioned in the ingredient listing.
3. Improving the Standards for nutrition and health claims and ensuring terms such as  low fat, high fibre are meaningful to the consumer.
4. Making mandatory pregnancy warning labels on all alcoholic beverages within 2 years to highlight the dangers of  alcohol to the unborn child. Currently some manufacturers are voluntarily putting warning statements on some alcoholic beverages.