Simplicity: the missing ingredient?

Spaniards joke that people should avoid eating foods that contain zutaten - a word that means ingredients in German, but which sounds faintly dangerous to the Spanish ear. In part, the joke plays on the incomprehensibility of food labelling for the ordinary consumer.

EU laws mean that virtually all ingredients are now listed on food packaging, but given the range of ingredients available, campaigners say non-specialists can struggle to identify ingredients, or make informed choices about the health impact of eating them might be. Ingesting pantothenic acid, for example, sounds like it would result in serious discomfort, although it is simply Vitamin B.

The number of ingredients that might appear on the back of a packet is vast. One European food ingredients firm, Danisco, has around 2,000 ingredient patents alone.

In response, the EU and national governments are devising ways of simplifying the choice for consumers.

In the UK, the Foods Standards Authority (FSA) has introduced a traffic light system on the front of food packets - indicating the presence of high, medium or low levels of fats, saturates, sugar and salt.

Although the FSA says the system has been popular with shoppers, major food chains such as Tesco, have favoured other schemes that focus on percentages of recommended daily intake.

The number of simplified labelling schemes has mush-roomed in recent years.

According to BEUC, the European consumers’ organisation, the range of simplified labels across Europe is making consumer choice difficult.

"We need some kind of interpretation of what is on the back of the packet," said Muriel Danis, BEUC spokeswoman.

The European Commission is turning its attention to the issue. The work is still in the early stages but proposals are expected to come later this year or early in 2008.

It is still not clear whether this will involve binding rules or guidelines, or whether it will be based on daily intake or a traffic-light system.

In an attempt to bridge the gap between some sections of industry and campaigners the FSA is now examining whether a hybrid system could provide consumers with clear and accurate advice or whether it will muddy the waters further.

Already BEUC and others are pressing the Commission to allow an independent body to monitor the system.

The European Food Safety Authority is a likely candidate despite its limited role in developing labelling.

But few observers expect the process of establishing a pan-EU regime to be quick or painless.

Spaniards joke that people should avoid eating foods that contain zutaten - a word that means ingredients in German, but which sounds faintly dangerous to the Spanish ear. In part, the joke plays on the incomprehensibility of food labelling for the ordinary consumer.