“Dodgy nutrition claims” shouldn’t be made on food products: Australian Food and Grocery Council

As this makes choosing healthy products difficult for shoppers.

Industry agrees with consumer group Choice that misleading claims should not be made on Australian food products, the Australian Food and Grocery Council said today.

Choice has launched a national campaign to expose food labels which carry “dodgy nutrition claims” that make choosing healthy products difficult for shoppers.

AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said there are strict laws in Australia about making misleading claims about foods which should be enforced by the ACCC and state and territory governments.

“If misleading claims are being made, industry would urge the regulators to enforce the rules under the Food Standards Code and consumer protection laws,” Ms Carnell said. “Making misleading statements on any product is illegal in Australia.”

But Ms Carnell said traffic light labelling is not the answer to providing helpful information for consumers to make healthy choices.

“Using traffic lights in the examples above, consumers could be forgiven for thinking sultanas and lollies were equally healthy while unsalted, dry-roasted mixed nuts – which feature the Heart Tick – are significantly less healthy.

“That’s quite simply not true! There’s no way that traffic lights makes the process of choosing healthier foods simpler for consumers.”

Ms Carnell said a far better approach is the Daily Intake Guide labels – which are now on 4000 supermarket products – offering easy-to-follow information to formulate a daily eating plan.

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Tags: Australian Food and Grocery Council, nutrition, Choice