There are currently two schemes of labels being used in stores to help consumers better understand the food that they are eating. These are the traffic light scheme, supported by the Food Standards Agency and the Guideline Daily Allowance scheme.

Traffic Lights

Traffic light colours can help you get the balance right by helping you to choose between products and keep a check on the amount of foods high in fat, sugars and salt that you are eating. Keep a look out for the colours on the front of food packs.

The traffic light colours will make it easier for you to compare products at a glance. Products with red lights should only be eaten occasionally or as a treat because they are high in nutrients that we need to limit our intake of. Amber lights show the product doesn’t contain particularly high levels of the nutrients so it is ok to eat most of the time but it should be eaten as part of a balanced diet. Green lights mean the product contains low levels of the measured nutrients therefore it is a healthy choice. Remember Red lights don’t mean you should stop eating a product they mean think about how often you are eating it and make it part of a balanced diet.

The traffic lights are shown in a number of different ways on packs but they all use the same colours and levels to measure what counts as low, medium or high levels of nutrients. If you would like further information on the traffic light labelling system please visit the Food standards agency website at http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/

Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)

Guideline daily amounts are guidelines for healthy adults and children about the approximate amount of Calories, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, total sugars, protein, fibre, salt and sodium required daily for a healthy diet. GDAs are a guide to help you make informed choices about which foods you eat. They are not targets. GDAs can help you to understand the contribution a certain food or drink makes towards your guideline daily amount.

The table below shows the guideline daily allowances for adult men and women. These are the figures that the percentages on the labels are based on. Please note as individuals differ GDAs can only provide a benchmark of these nutirents not the exact statistics for every consumer

Most packets don’t show the full table, they only show the amount of each nutrient in the product and the percentage of the daily allowance that that makes up.