Supermarket 'signposts' the way to healthy eating

UK supermarket chain Waitrose is launching a logo giving nutritional information on the front of packs.

Items in the chain’s healthy eating range will display clearly the fat and calorie content.

Waitrose is the latest supermarket to develop its own “signposting” scheme supposedly to help shoppers make decisions about a product at a glance.

The chain decided not to adopt the more controversial “traffic light” labelling idea favoured by consumers in research by the Food Standards Agency published in November.

Focus groups backed two options, including a single traffic light on packs in either red, amber or green indicating the product should be eaten “sparingly”, “in moderation” or in “plenty”, depending on the nutritional contents.

The more complicated of the two – a multiple traffic light – has different coloured lights indicating whether the product is “high”, “medium” or “low” in either fat, salt, sugar and saturated fat.

Christian Cull, spokesman for Waitrose, said: “I think clear labelling, rather than a coloured scheme, is where we are comfortable going at the moment.”

Waitrose has redesigned its Perfectly Balanced range of food to ensure all products contain less than 3% fat.

It also changed the packaging to include more detailed nutritional information on the rear of packs.

Moria Howie, the chain’s nutritionist, said: “Waitrose Perfectly Balanced is not a fad or a new trend, it’s not just for January.

“We have approached the range using the basic principles of healthy eating.”

The new range goes on sale at the start of January.