Experts claim mandatory warning labels on food could significantly reduce England’s obesity rates and save lives
Experts claim mandatory warning labels on food could significantly reduce England’s obesity rates and save lives
More than 100,000 obesity-related deaths could be averted in the next two decades if food businesses were forced to include nutritional warning labels on the front of their packaging, according to health experts. Researchers from the University of Liverpool have discovered that such labels, particularly for foods high in fat, salt or sugar, could significantly reduce England’s obesity rates and save lives.
Chile was the first country to introduce mandatory nutritional warning labels in 2016, requiring any food or drink high in fat, salt or sugar to display a black octagonal warning on the front of its packaging.
Similar measures have since been adopted by other countries, including Mexico and Canada. In contrast, while UK regulations require nutritional information to be displayed on the back of all food packaging, the inclusion of details on the front, such as the traffic light system, is voluntary.
The new study, published in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe, used modelling to predict the potential impact of mandatory warning labels.
Over a 20-year period from 2024 to 2043, it was estimated that compulsory implementation of traffic light labelling could decrease obesity prevalence by 2.34 percentage points, potentially preventing or postponing 57,000 obesity-related deaths.
However, the study found mandatory nutrient warning labelling, similar to those seen in other countries, would have an even greater effect, reducing obesity prevalence by 4.44 percentage points and averting 110,000 obesity-related deaths.
The authors have urged the government to consider implementing nutrient warning labels.
Dr Rebecca Evans, the study’s corresponding author, said: “Our findings suggest that mandatory nutrient warning labels could deliver substantial health benefits for the population, reducing both obesity rates and related mortality.
“These results support current government discussions about alternative labelling approaches and provide robust evidence to guide future UK food labelling policy.”
Dr Zoe Colombet, a contributor to the study, added: “Nutrition labels are a simple yet powerful tool.
“Making them mandatory could help people make healthier food choices and encourage the food industry to rethink what goes on our shelves, helping to prevent thousands of deaths linked to obesity”.
Professor Amanda Daley, a specialist in behavioural medicine at Loughborough University, said: “We need effective public health interventions to reduce the number of deaths related to people living with obesity and mandatory warning labels on food may be one way to achieve this.
“Importantly, we need the food industry to play their part in helping people to make informed decisions about the food they purchase and consume.
“The requirement for food manufacturers in the United Kingdom to include warning labels may encourage the sector to consider more carefully the contents and portion size of food items that they sell.
“Let’s not forget, the public have the right to be fully informed about the impact of the food they consume on their health.”
Dr Jordan Beaumont, from Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Traffic light labelling is a useful tool for consumers but can be tricky to interpret in context of our wider food choices and dietary intake.
“Given we often have very little time to actually inspect labelling and make truly informed decisions when shopping for food, nutrition warning labels provide simpler and more explicit information that is quick and easy to interpret, which explains the larger impact of such information in this modelling.”
Andrea Martinez-Inchausti, assistant director of food at the British Retail Consortium, representing retailers, added: “Retailers are fully committed to helping improve the health of their customers and have been consistent in providing advice on healthy living, including providing nutritional information on all their products.
“Supermarkets have also keenly adopted the traffic light system for nutritional information on their own products.”
The Department of Health has been contacted for comment.