I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require simple, uniform nutritional labelling on the front of packaged foods; and for connected purposes.

In our busy lives, even with the huge improvements to the labelling of packaged food since I first tabled a food labelling Bill four years ago, we often shop in a hurry. We do not have time to stop and study labels in detail, or we might just not have very good eyesight. We need to be able to compare and choose healthy options easily and simply. Front-of-package labelling that gives at-a-glace information about how much fat, sugar and salt different foods contain is crucial for shoppers.

The Co-operative introduced front-of-pack labels 10 years ago and was one of the first retailers to sign up to the Food Standards Agency’s traffic lights scheme. Co-op customers say that they find front-of-pack traffic lights simple and straightforward and this year the Co-op decided to include them on all products, with a few exceptions. Fruit and vegetables will have nutritional information without colour coding, because the health message in their case is the importance of five-a-day.

Sainsbury’s uses multiple traffic lights on almost 5,000 of its own brand products and has found a strong recognition—93 per cent.—of the label among customers. Customers use the labels to choose sandwiches and healthy meals so that they can get healthy. The company is aiming for fewer red traffic lights by reducing salt, sugar, fat and saturated fats and removing all hydrogenated fats from its own brand products. Sainsbury’s is being led by its customers, as 63 per cent. of them said that multiple traffic light labels were helping them to eat more healthily.

Asda has a combination food labelling system. The traffic light approach was the option requested by customers and Asda has received hugely positive feedback since introducing it. The labels include guideline daily amounts and are designed to be read and understood in less than two seconds.

Many other retailers and manufacturers including Boots, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, McCain, Virgin Trains, National Express and YO! Sushi are using the FSA’s multiple traffic light scheme. Other retailers have responded to customers’ desire for quick, easy-to-see information by designing other labelling schemes using guideline daily amounts.

Tesco’s label also includes a pastel colour code for each main ingredient. At Tesco, too, front-of-pack labelling has driven changes in product content. In the last 12 months, salt levels have been reduced in more than 200 products and fat has been cut in more than 150 products. The introduction of front-of-package labels by a wide range of retailers is giving people much more control over what they eat.

Why, therefore, do we need simple, uniform nutritional labelling on the front of food packaging? In the words of the Government Office for Science,

“Britain has become a nation where overweight is the norm”.

The office predicts that, on current trends, within 40 years half of adult women, two thirds of adult men and a quarter of all children could be obese—and obesity increases the risk of a range of chronic diseases, especially type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary heart disease, cancer and arthritis. Today, more than 2 million people over 18 are registered with their GPs as having diabetes, and nearly 2 million have coronary heart disease.

Back home in Warrington, more than 8,000 people are on the patient register with diabetes and nearly 8,000 with coronary heart disease. That means that there are 16,000 people and their families in my home town with a very urgent need to know how much salt, sugar and fat their food contains, but we all want to be able to take control of what we eat and to know what is inside the packaging, and everyone needs to be able to access that information. Those who cannot read too well or calculate percentages—or people who are in a hurry—also need to know that information, and not just people who can understand complex variants.

The Food Standards Agency has commissioned a major piece of work on comprehension and use of the UK’s nutrition signpost labelling schemes. The interim report published this September found that customers like front-of-package label schemes and use them to make choices, but that various issues were causing confusion for some customers.

The FSA report said that people were confused about what the colours in traffic light labels meant, and about whether there were different guideline daily amounts for different people according to gender, age and body type. It found that people were uncertain about how GDAs related to portion size and the mathematical calculations that were needed, as well as about the meaning of the GDA pastel colours and the percentages involved. They were even confused about what the acronym “GDA” meant.

Those confusions have to be resolved in a simple system that meets the need of all consumers. Which?—formerly known as the Consumers Association—is absolutely clear about what needs to be done:

“If consumers are going to improve their diets, they need to be provided with information that helps them to make healthier choices. The Food Standards Agency is carrying out extensive research to establish the best labelling approach for achieving this. The food industry needs to give their customers a helping hand by adopting the approach that works best”.

Over 14 million ready meals are eaten each week in Britain. Last summer, Which? bought all the cheese and tomato pizzas, beef lasagnes and chicken tikka masalas that it could find in the main supermarkets. For each type of meal, it compared the fat, saturated fat and salt content. It found that people could eat five times as much fat and more than three times the amount of salt, depending on which brand of lasagne they bought. Some pizzas had seven times as much salt as others, and five times as much fat. A curry could have three and a half times the amount of saturates or more than four times the amount of salt per 100 g, depending on which chicken tikka meal was chosen.

That may sound funny, but 30 per cent. of deaths from coronary heart disease and around one third of cancers are believed to be down to diet. When the FSA publishes the results of the full research project on UK nutrition signposting labelling schemes next year, the food industry must respond with simple, uniform nutritional labelling to enable people to choose healthy food.

This Bill has the support of the British Medical Association, which has stated:

“The British Medical Association has a long-term interest in the health of the public and believes that the increase in the frequency of obesity is a cause for great concern. While tackling obesity requires commitment to a multi-faceted approach, there is a particular need to change dietary behaviour. The BMA considers improved and consistent food labelling to be an important mechanism for enabling consumers to make informed dietary choices”,

and for that reason it welcomes this Bill.

The British Heart Foundation says:

“Poor diets are creating a massive burden of ill health in the UK, including by contributing to several key risk factors for the development of heart disease, such as obesity and high blood pressure. To help reverse this trend, we believe that people must be provided with clear information about the food which they eat in order to encourage them to make healthier choices.

BHF therefore strongly supports the principle behind this debate. It is essential that all members of the food industry agree to abide by the recommendations of the Food Standards Agency on which single form of front of pack labelling should be adopted”.

Diabetes UK supports the intention of this Bill, saying:

“We believe it is vital that a universal nutrition labelling scheme is introduced to enable consumers to make informed choices about their diet”.

Cancer Research UK says:

“After not smoking, keeping a healthy weight is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of cancer.”

Researchers have estimated that more than 13,000 cases of cancer could be avoided every year if everyone maintained a healthy body weight. The plethora of signpost labelling schemes used by retailers and manufacturers inevitably results in consumer confusion. It is important that the labelling scheme that works best for consumers is adopted and championed across the food industry.

In just the past week, 100 MPs have supported my early-day motion, which calls on food retailers and manufacturers to end the confusion caused by the proliferation of different schemes, and to commit to adopting whichever single labelling approach is found by the Food Standards Agency to perform best for consumers.

The last word goes to James, aged 63, via the Royal National Institute of Blind People:

“I've been trying to eat more healthily since my GP warned me about my high blood pressure. Even with my magnifier I find it difficult working out how much fat and sugar any product had. I wish they’d stop worrying about their branding and start worrying about me their customer.”

I ask the House to support the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Helen Southworth, Mr. Kevin Barron, Charlotte Atkins, Jim Dowd, Stephen Hesford, Christine Russell, David Taylor, Dr. Howard Stoate, Mrs. Janet Dean, Dr. Doug Naysmith, Mr. Paul Burstow and Mr. David Amess.

Food Labelling (Nutrition and Health)

Helen Southworth accordingly presented a Bill to require simple, uniform nutritional labelling on the front of packaged foods; and for connected purposes: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 14 November, and to be printed [Bill 157].

DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order No. 118(6) (Delegated Legislation Committees),

Local Government

That the draft Local Elections (Ordinary Day of Elections in 2009) Order 2008, which was laid before this House on 7th October, be approved.—[Ms Butler.]

Question agreed to.