Thoughts on the 'traffic light' food labelling system?

[PecChef]

What do you guys think about the Governments plans on bringing out a 'traffic light' food labeling system to NZ.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/ ... d=10843723

[soundsgood]

I think it's a great idea! Educating the general public the there is more to nutrition than 'low fat' :roll:

Only thing you would have to watch out for is manufacturers abusing the 'serving size' and reducing serving sizes to unrealistically small portions so that they show lower macros.

[Kalidane]

Written by "Former Green MP Sue Kedgley is a safe food campaigner" Didn't Read

It would absolve the individual of having to take responsibility for their own diet and health. That has to be a good thing right?

Could there be consequences to people reading magazine articles on 'nutrition' and consuming a diet lacking in red-light fats?

It doesn't address why my bottle of vanilla coke today did not disclose the caffeine content. What's that about? I was already running 1200mg. My heart could have exploded in my chest!

Pls respond

[Pseudonym]

It would absolve the individual of having to take responsibility for their own diet and health.

I would argue that it makes it easier for the individual to take responsibility for their own diet and health. So yes, that is a very good thing!

I agree with Soundsgood though on the portion size loophole. I'd like to see a percentage figure as well. That gives me a much better idea of its value.

Candy floss might only have 10g of sugar per serve, but if it's 100% sugar, it's easy to work out that it's not so healthy.

[maccaz]

any move to improve information or make it more understandable for people is good i reckon.

i dont know much about nutrition myself, but often facepalm at some of the "healthy" food ideas i hear from some people, so anything that is done to actually inform people is good imo.

[Kalidane]

It would absolve the individual of having to take responsibility for their own diet and health.

I would argue that it makes it easier for the individual to take responsibility for their own diet and health. So yes, that is a very good thing!

I agree with Soundsgood though on the portion size loophole. I'd like to see a percentage figure as well. That gives me a much better idea of its value.

Candy floss might only have 10g of sugar per serve, but if it's 100% sugar, it's easy to work out that it's not so healthy.

Okay there is a proportion of the population who would make enough effort to apply a rating/coding system. They would benefit.

I'm pretty confident they would be a small proportion of the population and, as a generalisation, not people at the riskier end of the distribution.

From memory, this all circles directly back to a recent thread here and I still can't believe the 30% of the population with the most to gain from understanding basic nutrition would bother to do so. They already have plenty of excuses and enabling to keep them rolling.

We all found out a bunch of stuff, applied it, learned more, applied it etc. Why can't others be expected to make a similar effort for their own benefit? I will not do it for them, nor pay for it.

[UsedToBeFatAs]

Awesome idea in theory but I think the practicalities will hold it back. Manufacturers could abuse serving sizes (like someone said earlier) and some foods could be contentious- I think some manufacturers who make a lot of coin out of calling things "lite" would fight tooth and nail not to be labelled orange or red.

[Gym rat]

I also think that it is awesome idea plus it will help teach the general public about healthy eating and low fat options instead of spending money on food which is bad for them like buying juke food when they go to the supermarket.Plus it will make them think twice about buying something that is bad for them coke also food that have a very high fat content in them.I wonder if this new system will be in any type of fast food outlet though out the country in places like Nandos,subway etc.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

lol it's just gonna be a waste of time and money.

people need more education on things like serving sizes (probably the most common thing around here for both under and overweight people that they don't know the right amount to eat)...

also, if someone were to buy a whole bunch of supposed 'green light' foods, what's to say that they'd actually be consuming a balanced diet?

i can just imagine it now with the traffic light system "ooh look at that it's got all greens, i can eat as much of this as I want!"

[Kiwijuice]

Fat people are stupid, and stupid people need all the help they can get. So yes - great idea.

[Ronin]

I don't really see it making any more of a difference than any other gimmick, whether it's the "Heart Tick", Weight Watchers points, Lite, Low-Fat, No Added Sugar, yadda yadda yadda. A small percentage of the population may make use of the information to improve their lives, but the rest of the lazy-assed wide-bodies will either ignore it, or use it to justify their shitty habits ... just like "I can super-mega-upsize my triple Big Mac Whopper Quarter Pounder Combo cos I'm having Diet Coke".

The only thing that will make a change is if everyone suddenly wakes up one day with a severe case of Taking-responsibility-for-oneself-itis. Unfortunately, that's about as likely as an outbreak of Stop-blaming-everyone-else-itis.

[UsedToBeFatAs]

It is reaching a balance between taking responsibility for one's self and saying to some people "you know what, we are sick and tired of paying for your health care due to your ignorance, so we are going to take the decision out of your hands" that is tough as well.