Date Published:
11 January 2007 |
Front-of-pack food labelling evaluation developments (UK)
An independent Project Management Panel (PMP) has been set up to extend work
evaluating the impact of front-of-pack nutritional labelling
on shopping
behaviour.
The scope of the evaluation and the membership of the Panel has been agreed
by the Nutrition Strategy Steering Group (NSSG) – jointly chaired by
Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint and the Food Standards Agency’s
Chair, Deirdre Hutton.
The study will be managed by a small group of independent experts in nutritional
and social sciences, including market research. This panel will be chaired
by Sue Duncan, Head of the Government Social Science Research Unit, and has
the following members:
- Ashley Adamson - senior lecturer in Public Health Nutrition at Newcastle
University
- Eric Salama - CEO of Kantar, the research and consultancy group
- Alizon Draper - senior lecturer in International Public Health Nutrition
at Westminster University
The PMP will be responsible for agreeing the specification of the project,
which will then go out to open tender. It will oversee the appraisal of proposals
and agree the preferred bidder for the work. When the study begins, it will
also be the PMP’s role to monitor this – with work expected to
start later in 2007.
Chair of the Project Management Panel (PMP), Sue Duncan, said:
" As Chief
Government Social Researcher one of the purposes of my role is to champion
the use of
evidence in policy making. This project will ensure that the evidence needed
in this high profile and significant area of work will be robust.
The outcomes of the project we are specifying will potentially have
wide ranging impact – including producers, retailers and consumers – and
I am looking forward to being involved in such a high profile piece of work. "
FSA Chair, Deirdre Hutton, said:
" Front-of-pack nutritional labelling is
now firmly accepted by the majority of major retailers and manufacturers. The
debate
is now about which system works best for consumers, rather than whether there
should be a system – which is why we are committed to carrying out this
study of impact on shopping behaviour in the market place.
The FSA, together with its industry and health charity partners, is committed
to standing by the results of the independent study – and will encourage
all manufacturers and retailers to adopt whatever system is shown to be the
most effective in helping shoppers to make healthier food choices. "
Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint, said:
" The Government made a commitment
in Choosing Health to develop a clear simple front-of-pack signpost system
to help busy consumers understand which foods can make a positive contribution
to a healthy diet.
When people are doing their food shopping in busy supermarkets they do
not want to be confronted with information that is difficult to understand
about
the best and most healthy foods to buy for themselves and their families. They
want to make the right choices.
This evaluation is an important step forward in looking at the different
approaches currently in the market place to see which has the greatest impact
in helping consumers choose healthier products. "
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necessarily those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in this news item was released
by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 4 January
2007 and may have been edited (e.g. in style, length, and/or for ease
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