A voluntary UK health initiative announced in June this year known as the ‘traffic-light system’ has been criticised by the Italian government and labelled as a form of discrimination against the nation’s traditional foods.
The traffic-light system has been praised by UK health campaigners as being a positive step towards tackling rising obesity rates and health related disease. The system highlights salt, sugar, fat and calorie content via colour-codes of red, amber or green on a front-of-pack label.
The Italian government is concerned that the labelling will impact on its national products and has raised the issue with the European Commission and is also in talks with other European countries The Guardian reports.
Head of the European parliament’s agriculture committee, Paolo de Castro admitted that more labelling was necessary to educate consumers, however the traffic light system was not the way to go. De Casto said that the system was ‘against the Mediterranean food culture’, and is affecting all countries within the Mediterranean region.
"All of us want more information for the consumer… The consumer should know everything. Every piece of information should be there," he said. "But the traffic-light system seeks to influence people's choices," he said.
BGiorgio Calabrese, an Italian doctor specialising in food science said that the system risked further worsening the unhealthy habits of the English.
"We are one of the world's longest-living peoples precisely because we understand the art of eating well and in moderation,” he told Italian newspaper La Stampa.
"To fight obesity you don't need stickers but a healthy and balanced diet. Do as we do."
Although voluntary, the traffic light system has been widely adopted by key retailers in the UK including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-op.