What's in a label?

Do you buy the ones that offer best value for money? Do you pay more for eggs with added health benefits, or settle for the ones that allow the hen to bathe in dust? You only wanted an omelette. Now you have a moral dilemma.

Once, value for money was the shopper’s primary concern. Today we ask other questions: what is in our food? how healthy is it? how much has it been processed? what has been added? what are the implications for the environment? Research has found that eight out of ten people prefer to choose food and drink which is as "natural" as possible. But how do you know what is "natural"?

Food anxiety has led to a proliferation of food labelling. A two-litre carton of organic milk which bears the legend "Allergy information: contains milk", or a bag of cashew nuts with the grave warning "This product contains nuts" looks like legalism gone mad. Tomatoes, we are told, are "specially grown for taste" (why else?), oranges are "juicy", "full-flavoured" and "easy to peel".

Some manufacturers use labels to get an edge on their competitors by pulling the wool over the eyes of the consumer. A bottle of mineral water which proclaims it is "suitable for a low-sodium diet" is saying very little: almost all waters are. "Cholesterol-free" vegetable oil is a tautology: cholesterol is an animal product not found in vegetable oils.

Dasani bottled water was labelled as "pure, still water" but was recently unmasked as being nothing more than purefied tap water. Meanwhile, a stomach-churning report revealed that "fresh" chicken on sale in supermarkets could be up to three weeks old, due to manufacturers altering the use-by dates.

"Mislabelling" or "misdescription" of foods can be a crime. Some products are protected by specific laws: for a sweet to be described as "chocolate" it must contain a minimum percentage of cocoa solids. But many other foods exist within a grey area where guidelines are sometimes bent. A trip to the shops with the label police will quickly unearth crab paste which is mainly mackerel, pork sausages which contain chicken and maple-flavoured syrup.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says consumers should have the right to be able to choose and compare products on grounds of health, taste and cost. Pamela Reid, head of policy for the food standards, diet and nutrition at the FSA in Scotland, says: "Food labelling in this country has come a long way, but there is still work to be done to make sure that consumers are not misled and have all the information they need. We have issued guidelines on assurance schemes which put their logo on products, saying they should provide more clear information about what the scheme means."

The Consumers Assocation goes further, saying that the current food laws allow manufacturers to mislead consumers. It has called upon the Government to take action to introduce clearer labelling as a step towards dealing with the rise in obesity and diet-related illnesses. It also calls for a sea-change in the way foods are marketed to children.

How far can we trust what a food label tells us? Does the product do what it says on the tin or do we need to take it with a pinch of salt? We scrutinise some of the major claims and list some loopholes to watch out for.

ORGANIC

One of the biggest food revolutions of the last ten years has been the way organic products, once the preserve of the sandal-wearer, have become mainstream. In 2003, we spent 1.1billion on organic food and drink. By 2007, that is expected to have risen to 1.6billion. The standards for foods bearing the label "organic" are set by the EU and implemented in this country by the United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS). Basic standards include a ban on fertilisers and pesticides, other than those approved for organic use, and a conversion period for farm land, normally two years. UKROFS licences several bodies (eg Soil Association) to inspect and certify organic operations and their products. Before a product can be stamped "organic" the grower, processor and importer must all be registered and approved by one of these. All foods sold as organic should bear the label of the organisation that has certified them, however, not all do. 70 per cent of organic goods sold in this country are imported and it is difficult to regulate standards internationally. Manufactured foods can be labelled organic as long as organic ingredients make up 95 per cent of the food. The Soil Association Organic Certification is regarded as one of the highest standards, also covering GM0s (genetically modified organisms) and treatment of livestock. While eating organic is still the best way to avoid foods which have been chemically treated, there is no consensus about its health benefits. Research by the Food Standards Agency found that "organic food is not significantly different in terms of food safety and nutrition from food produced conventionally".

LION QUALITY

The chips were down for the egg industry in the 1980s, with salmonella scares and nutritionists advising no more than three eggs a week. The industry fought back by forming the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) in 1986, and launching the Red Lion Quality mark. Eggs stamped with Lion Quality, they claim, "have been produced to the highest quality standards of food safety in the world". Today, Lion Quality eggs account for 75 per cent of the total UK egg market. In 1998, a new Lion Quality code of practice was launched, introducing stricter criteria for eggs bearing the stamp. These include compulsory vaccination against salmonella, tighter hygiene controls on farms and packing stations, increased traceability and the stamping of a best before date on the shell of every egg. However, the standard specifies little about the conditions in which hens are kept. Some Lion Quality eggs are still produced on battery farms. New EU legislation being introduced requires the compulsory labelling of eggs according to their method of production.

NATURAL MINERAL WATER

The bottled water sector is the fastest growing area of the soft drinks market, now worth 1.2billion per year. But consumer confidence in bottled water was shaken when Coca-Cola’s Dasani water was withdrawn from sale, first because it contained illegally high levels of bromate, which is potentially carcinogenic, then because it was unmasked as purefied mains water from the plant in Sidcup. How can you tell that the water you buy is better than what comes out of the tap? "Natural mineral water" is a legal definition, defined by a strict European directive. It must come from an identified and protected source, and must be naturally wholesome without treatment. Nothing should be added, except for carbon dioxide to make the sparkling version. "Spring water" is a UK term. Again it must originate from an underground source, must be bottled at source and be microbiologically safe without treatment, however certain treatments are allowed. Bottled waters which do not have either of these terms on the label are usually processed waters - tap water, put through an extensive treatment process and with minerals added back in. They are safe to drink, but the Natural Mineral Water Information Service has called for changes to labelling so that they cannot be called "pure". Flavoured waters typically contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame K and artificial preservatives.

FARM-ASSURED

The Little Red Tractor logo is the sign of a voluntary quality assurance scheme developed by the National Farmers Union and now run by Assured Food Standards. It was launched in 2000 to help restore public confidence in the farming industry after a series of food scares. The scheme is an umbrella term which unites a variety of quality assurance schemes developed for specific branches of farming with a set of common minimum standards. There are additional standards for abbatoirs, processing units and hauliers. The scheme now covers between 65 per cent and 90 per cent of output in the main commodities. The Red Tractor symbol claims to be evidence that farmers "are practising high standards of animal welfare, food safety and environmental practices". However, an investigation carried out by animal rights organisation Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) claims that the Little Red Tractor logo "offers few assurances that animals are treated any better than the bare minimum legal guidelines". Under the scheme, practises such as the intensive rearing of broiler chickens, the use of narrow farrowing crates for breeding pigs, the use of battery cages for laying hens and animal mutations such as the debeaking of chickens and the tail docking of pigs are still permitted. CIWF claims that the Red Tractor scheme is "more concerned with creating the image of welfare rather than the reality". The logo is also not a guarantee that the product is British. It can be used on produce which comes from other countries as long as the producers comply with the necessary standards.

FREEDOM FOOD

This farm-assurance scheme, administered by the RSPCA, was set up in 1994. Like the Red Tractor, it is a voluntary scheme which farms, hauliers and abbatoirs can apply to join, and covers eggs, meat and dairy products. It implements RSPCA species-specific welfare standards based on the "five freedoms" defined by the Farm Animal Welfare Council: freedom from fear and distress; freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express normal behaviour. Businesses are admitted to the scheme only when an approved assessor has carried out a detailed audit. Spot checks are also carried out. Before the logo can be applied, all stages of a food’s production, eg farm, haulier and abattoir, must be accredited. However, the Freedom Food logo does not mean that the food is free-range. The RSPCA will accredit indoor systems of animal rearing provided the animal has plenty of room to move around and good access to food and water.

VEGETARIAN

There is no single legal definition of "vegetarian" or "vegan" either at European or UK level and many vegetarians remain concerned that they could be unwittingly eating animal products in processed foods. The "Suitable for Vegetarians" logo is voluntary and is not regulated, however general controls on food labels state that claims must not be false or misleading. If a food carries the "Vegetarian Society Approved" logo, known as the Seedling Symbol, it must fulfill the standards set by the Vegetarian Society. This scheme was established in 1969 and is one of the most widely trusted stamps of vegetarian approval. It can be applied to restaurants and shops, catering supplies and household goods. Foods with this logo must be free of animal flesh, meat, bone stock, fats, gelatine, aspic or any product resulting from slaughter; should not have been tested on animals; eggs used must be free-range; must be GM free; must be free from cross contamination with non-vegetarian products during production.

The extent of potentially misleading labeling food stuffs doesn’t end there.

HEALTHY OPTIONS

All major supermarkets now have a range of "healthy option" products, and many brands offer a "lite" or "low-fat" version. By law a food can’t be "reduced-calorie" unless it has fewer calories than the usual version. But how much healthier is it? Levels of fat are determined by law in butter, margarine and other spreadable fats, but not in other products. Pressure from consumer organisations and the Food Standards Agency has lead to the removal of claims that a product is, for example "90% fat-free" (this was thought to be confusing as it can still contain 10 per cent fat, making it "high" in fat). The Food Standards Agency recommends that "reduced fat" claims should only be used on foods which contain less than three-quarters of the amount of fat in the standard product, "low-fat" should only be used on products which contain less than 3g of fat per 100g, and "fat-free" on products which contain less than 0.15g per 100g. However, this alone does not mean the product is healthy: it could still contain high levels of sugar or salt. Tesco Healthy Living Lasagne contains 2.5g of fat per 100g compared to 6.7g in the standard version, but contains 2.5g of sugar per 100g, 0.2g more than the standard version. Walkers Lite Ready Salted Crisps contain 21g of fat per 100g, compared with 33g in the standard version, but both contain 0.7g of salt: under FSA guidelines both versions would be considered "high" in fat and salt. Go-Ahead cereal bars contained 7.2g of fat per 100g but a whopping 46.1g of sugar. There are no guidelines covering the use of the terms "lite" or "light". These contain a range of amounts of fat, some as high as 14 per cent. Legal guidelines about health claims on foods are now under discussion by the EU.

FORTIFIED WITH VITAMINS AND MINERALS

This is a common claim made by some breakfast cereals. Others claim to help the heart or to aid concentration. However, any cereal containing refined carbohydrate (Rice Krispies, Cornflakes etc) has had most of its vitamins removed in the refining process. This means that the manufacturers are obliged by law to put the vitamins back in, but vitamins added this way may be more difficult for the body to absorb. Cereal Offenders, a special investigation carried out by Which? magazine, found that over 85 per cent of the 100 branded cereals they tested contained "a lot" of sugar, and 40 per cent contained "a lot" of salt. A serving of Kelloggs All-Bran, though it is high in fibre, contains four times the amount of salt in a 25g bag of roasted salted peanuts. Nine cereals contained "a lot" of saturated fats. The research also found that cereal bars, advertised as the healthy solution to a missed breakfast, tended to have less fibre and contain more saturated fat than a bowl of cereal. Kelloggs has a variety of logos for heart health, concentration, physical energy, low-fat, healthy bones. Kelloggs Frosties, for example, ticks all of these boxes but has a whopping 38g of sugar per 100g. The Consumers Association and Food Standards Agency would like to see legal guidelines introduced which means such claims would have to be backed by scientific evidence.

• www.foodstandards.gov.uk

• www.littleredtractor.org.uk

• www.freedomfood.co.uk

• www.ciwf.org.uk

• www.vegsoc.org

• www.naturalmineralwater.org

• www.britegg.co.uk

• www.soilassociation.org

WHAT A LABEL SHOULD TELL YOU

All ingredients, including additives, should be listed on the packaging in descending order. There should also be the manufacturer’s name and address, a datemark, a weight and instructions for safe storage. The following nutritional information should appear (at the moment this is not mandatory):

Energy

This is the amount of energy - calories - that the food will give you when you eat it. It is measured either in calories (kcal) or joules (kJ).

Protein

Protein is important for body growth and repair. Most adults get more than enough protein for their needs.

Carbohydrate

Mainly sugars and starch. Most labels tell you how much of the total carbohydrate is sugars (the remainder is mostly starch). We should get most of our energy from starch, rather than from fats and sugars.

Sugars

This covers both sugars which occur naturally in fruit and milk, and added sugar. 2g or less per 100g is considered by the FSA to be "a little", 10g or more "a lot".

Saturated fat

This type of fat may raise blood cholesterol levels, which can cause heart disease. 5g or more per 100g is considered "a lot" of saturated fat, 1g "a little".

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat

Monounsaturates are neutral for heart disease, and polyunsaturates lower blood cholesterol levels. It is much better to eat foods that are rich in monounsaturates (such as olive oil and rapeseed oil) and polyunsaturates (try sunflower oil and soya oil), than foods rich in saturates. But remember, they are still fats. Any product which has a total of 20g or more per 100g of fat has "a lot" of fat in it.

Dietary fibre

Fibre helps prevent constipation, piles and bowel problems. 6g or more per 100g is considered "high fibre".

Sodium

Most sodium in food is from salt. Sodium can help to cause high blood pressure. More than two-thirds of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods. 0.5g per 100g of sodium is considered "a lot", 0.1g or less "a little".

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Terms such as "fresh", "natural", "pure", "traditional" and "farmhouse" have no legal definition. The Food Standards Agency has set down guidelines for their use after finding that they were being misused.

• The law forbids the use of pictures on packaging which are misleading (eg, a yoghurt made with artificial flavourings should not have a picture of fresh fruit on the packaging). However, some manufacturers still use images creatively.

• In the EU, if a food contains GM DNA or protein, this must be indicated on the label. However, products made with the help of genetic modification technology (eg hard cheese) and meat and milk from animals fed on GM feed do not need to be labelled.

• "No added sugar" does not mean a product will have a low-sugar content. It could have a naturally high sugar content, like fruit, or have artificial sweetener added. Diluting juices labelled "no added sugar" typically contain sweeteners such as aspartame and acesulfame-K which has suspected health risks.

• Levels of salt in products labelled "low-sodium" are not regulated by law. The Food Standards Agency recommends a "low-sodium" product should have at least 25 per cent less than the standard product.

• A product labelled "no artificial colours or preservatives" may still contain sweeteners, artificial stabilisers and natural preservatives such as salt.

• It is not possible to entirely remove the gluten from wheat so some "gluten-free" products will still contain small amounts. Manufacturers are not required to state how much gluten is present (apart from in some baby foods). "Gluten-free" sometimes appears on products which would not normally contain gluten anyway.

• Legislation is currently being prepared at the EU which will require food labels to indicate the presence of the 12 most common allergens, which include gluten, eggs and milk. At present listing of these (other than in the standard list of ingredients) is voluntary.

• Premium brands: Can you really taste the difference? A survey by Which? of supermarkets’ premium brands found that premium products (eg Tesco’s Finest, Sainsburys Taste the Difference) did not always taste better than the standard.

• Avoiding milk products is harder than you think. They crop up in all sorts of unexpected places: some types of cold meat, salami, fruit juice, salad dressings, soups, sausages, even crisps.