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Traffic Light Labels

This page and its links will contribute to the debate about the relative merits of Traffic Light food labels and the food industry's Australian alternative, the Percentage Daily Intake Counter (%DI Counter).  It was written to support a letter in the Medical Journal of Australia published on 1 January 2007, and is being regularly updated. 

Health professionals need the comprehensive Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) and shoppers traffic lights—a colour-coded summary of the NIP. 

DISCUSSION PAPER    Click here to view a 10 page PDF on Traffic Light food labels.

PRACTICAL DEMO    Click here for a link to a special electronic calculator where you can enter the nutrition data that are printed in the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) of an existing food label.  

When you have done that, the calculator will automatically show you the traffic lights this food would get if it went on sale in Britain using the criteria in force there in 2006.

Note that the 2008 revision made the British criteria more complicated (foods with a serving size over 100g get stricter treatment now).  Our IT expert found it too difficult to modify this calculator, but it will still amuse the kids and show you just what we are missing while the NIP is all we can get.

Page last modified on: Thursday 09 Apr, 2009