Traffic-light food labelling ‘could help people lose weight’

Several European health and consumer communities are urging MEPs to vote in favour of a traffic light system for food labelling, suggesting that it could help people to lose weight and reduce obesity levels across the continent..

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and its branch, the European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, are just two of the organisations that have expressed their support of the scheme.

“If MEPs vote against the traffic-light system they will be failing the next generation. Widespread introduction of the system would enable people in Europe to make informed choices about eating healthily,” said ESC spokesperson Joep Perk, from the School of Health and Caring Sciences at Linnaeus University in Sweden.

He went on to say that improving the diets of people would significantly reduce the number of people who are at risk of cardiovascular disease.

According to the World Health Organisation, at least 80 per cent of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided if everyone adopted a healthy diet, took part in regular physical activity and avoided tobacco smoke.

Would a traffic-lights system make it easier for you to lose weight?