News Release

GDA food label initiative gathers momentum

A further 23 companies join campaign to help shoppers better understand the food they eat

The number of food and drink companies that have introduced Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) labels has more than doubled in the six months since the launch of the food industry's promotional campaign to introduce and explain them to shoppers in January 2007. [1]

The easily recognisable GDA labels are now used by 50 companies and feature on the front of approximately 20,000 product lines[2], making it the most consistent, well known and widely available front-of-pack labelling scheme in the UK.

Food industry GDA campaign director, Jane Holdsworth said: "The number of food companies now using clearly visible GDA labels on packs is great news for people who want at a glance information about what's inside the food they eat. The widespread and consistent front-of-pack labelling scheme now enables consumers across the country to make easy comparisons between everyday foods that they buy and eat, and helps them choose foods that best suit their diet."

GDA labels help people of all backgrounds to understand the percentage guideline daily amounts of calories, sugars, fat, saturates and salt that are in a portion of food or drink and can help them make better-informed choices. Independent research also indicates that 80% of shoppers have now seen GDA nutrition labels on food and drink products and 54% have used them.[3]

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To find out more call the GDA press office on: +44 (0) 20 7820 9764

References:

1 Source: FDF. 21 food and drinks companies, plus three food retailers had introduced GDA labels at the time of the launch of the first GDA advertising campaign on 4 January 2007.

2 The companies that now use GDA labelling are: A G Barr, ABF, Aldi, Bird’s Eye, Brakes Food Service, Britvic, Cadbury Schweppes, Calypso, Carrs Foods International, Coca-Cola, Danone, Discovery Foods, Evron Foods, Findus, Gerber, Golden Wonder, GSK, Hormel Foods, Kellogg, Kraft, Lidl, Masterfoods, Morrisons, Nestle, Netto, Nichols plc (Vimto), Nisa-Today, Northern Foods, Novotel Hotels, O P Chocolate, Pataks, PepsiCo, Premier, Pro Pack Foods, Raynor Foods, Shloer, So-Good, Somerfield, Spar, Speldhurst Sausage, Sugar Puffs, Tate & Lyle, Tesco, The Real Potato Co, Trimlyne, Tunnocks, Unilever, Villa Soft Drinks, Westler Foods, Warburtons.

3 Source: Millward Brown Computer Aided Self-completion Interview process (CASI) of 500 nationally representative adults aged 18+ during 5 March – 1 April 2007.