Suppliers are rounding on the FSA's multiple traffic-light system, after Coca Cola, Krispy Kreme, McCain, Weetabix, British Sugar and a consortium representing Allied Bakeries, Allied Mills, Silver Spoon and G Costa told the agency they would not support its controversial labelling guidelines.
They are the latest on a growing list - which includes Tesco, Danone, Kellogg, Kraft, Heinz, Nestlé, Cereal Partners UK, PepsiCo, Unilever and Campbell Grocery Products - that favour a GDA-based system rather than the traffic light model approved by the FSA last week.
These suppliers, en masse, told the agency in their submissions to its consultation that multiple traffic lights were too simplistic and potentially misleading to consumers. And most of them said they had either already adopted their own front-of-pack scheme or were currently considering one.
Although Sainsbury, Waitrose and Asda have come out in support of the FSA with schemes that work to its criteria, it has also emerged that both Waitrose and Asda had issues with the proposals. Asda told the consultation that it was concerned that the model failed to distinguish between healthier foods within a category, while both were worried about the lack of products that would meet the FSA's criteria for salt to achieve a 'green' rating.
Both supermarkets, along with Somerfield and Iceland, also said the success of the scheme depended on ongoing consumer education and promotional activities.
Tesco, which has pledged to increase its GDA labelling from 2,000 products to all 7,000 of its own label lines by 2007, said its research into traffic lights threw up "unfortunate and perverse effects" on some products.
Rachel Barnes

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