Food agency takes on industry over junk labels Felicity Lawrence Thursday December 28, 2006 The Guardian 1. Consumers are to be presented with two rival new year advertising campaigns as the Food Standards Agency goes public in its battle with the industry over the labelling of unhealthy foods. 2. The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red, amber and green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs, which is designed to tackle Britains obesity epidemic. 3. The campaign is a direct response to a concerted attempt by leading food manufacturers and retailers, including Kelloggs and Tesco, to derail the system. The industry fears that traffic lights would demonise entire categories of foods and could seriously damage the market for those that are fatty, salty or high in sugar. 4. The UK market for breakfast cereals is worth £1.27bn a year and the manufacturers fear it will be severely dented if red light labels are put on packaging drawing attention to the fact that the majority are high in salt and/or sugar. 5. The industry is planning a major marketing campaign for a competing labelling system which avoids colour-coding in favour of information about the percentage of guideline daily amounts (GDAs) of fat, salt and sugar contained in their products. 6. The battle for the nations diet comes as new rules on television advertising come into force in January which will bar adverts for unhealthy foods from commercial breaks during programmes aimed at children. Sources at the TV regulators are braced for a legal challenge from the industry and have described the lobbying efforts to block any new ad ban or colour-coded labelling as the most ferocious weve ever experienced. 7. Ofcoms chief executive, Ed Richards, said: We are prepared to face up to any legal action from the industry, but we very much hope it will not be necessary. The FSA said it was expecting an onslaught from the industry in January. Senior FSA officials said the manufacturers efforts to undermine its proposals on labelling could threaten the agencys credibility. 8. Terrence Collis, FSA director of communications, dismissed claims that the proposals were not based on science. We have some of the most respected scientists in Europe, both within the FSA and in our independent advisory committees. It is unjustified and nonsensical to attack the FSAs scientific reputation and to try to undermine its credibility. 9. The FSA is understood to have briefed its ad agency, United, before Christmas, and will aim to air ads that are non-confrontational, humorous and factual as a counterweight to industrys efforts about the same time. The agency, however, will have a tiny fraction of the budget available to the industry. 10. Gavin Neath, chairman of Unilever UK and president of the Food and Drink Federation, has said that the industry has made enormous progress but could not accept red stop signs on its food. 11. Alastair Sykes, chief executive of Nestl UK, said that under the FSA proposals all his companys confectionery and most of its cereals would score a red. Are we saying people shouldnt eat confectionery? Were driven by consumers and what they want, and much of what we do has been to make our products healthier, he said. 12. Chris Wermann, director of communications at Kelloggs, said: In principle we could never accept traffic light labelling. 13. The rival labelling scheme introduced by Kelloggs, Danone, Unilever, Nestl, Kraft and Tesco and now favoured by 21 manufacturers, uses an industry-devised system based on identifying GDAs of key nutrients. Tesco says it has tested both traffic lights and GDA labels in its stores and that the latter increased sales of healthier foods. 14. But the FSA said it could not live with this GDA system alone because it was not scientific or easy for shoppers to understand at a glance. Questions 1-6 Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. 1. When will instructions be given on reading the color-coded labels? 2. Where can customers find the red light labels? 3. What problem is the FSA trying to handle with the labeling system? 4. Which product sells well but may not be healthy? 5. What information, according to the manufacturers, can be labeled on products? 6. What can not be advertised during childrens programmes?
上一篇: 雅思英语听力考题回忆(网友版)
下一篇: 雅思考试口语真题答案及解析
韩国总统对访朝持开放态度
体坛英语资讯:Real Madrid nearing deal for Brazilian teenager - reports
国际英语资讯:Two men die in police helicopter crash in Slovakia
国内英语资讯:Chinas top legislator urges to nurture talents with both ability, virtue for Macaos futu
福建省四地六校2016-2017学年高一上学期第二次(12月)月考英语试卷
广西钦州市钦州港区2016-2017学年高二11月月考英语试卷
福建省龙海市程溪中学2016-2017学年高一年下学期期中考英语试卷
国内英语资讯:China to toughen efforts in cutting excess capacity
国际英语资讯:New South Korean president makes important appointments after swearing-in
福建省四地六校2016-2017学年高二上学期第二次(12月)月考英语试卷
国际英语资讯:Brazils former President Lula faces graft charges in court
广西钦州市高新区2016-2017学年高二11月月考英语试卷
体坛英语资讯:Marcelo: I want to finish my career in Rio
国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Washington ponders why Trump sacks Comey
浙江省杭州市五县七校2016-2017学年高一上学期期中联考英语试卷
体坛英语资讯:Winners Monaco and PSG locked in the final battle for Ligue 1 title
广西钦州市高新区2016-2017学年高一11月月考英语试卷
国际英语资讯:6.8-magnitude quake hits South Sandwich Islands region -- USGS
国际英语资讯:Fillon wins Frances conservative primary for 2017 presidential election
浙江省湖州市2016-2017学年高一上学期期中考试英语试卷
国际英语资讯:Austrian vice chancellor announces to resign
永远都不要忽略的酒店安全贴士
黑龙江省大庆市杜蒙县2016-2017学年高二12月月考英语试卷
河南省南阳市2016-2017学年高一上学期期中质量评估英语试卷(扫描版)
体坛英语资讯:Barca and Madrid both win to maintain title head to head
江西省赣州市十三县(市)十四校2016-2017学年高一上学期期中联考英语试卷
河北省定州市2016-2017学年高一上学期期中考试英语试卷
湖北省孝感市七校教学联盟2016-2017学年高二上学期期中考试英语试卷
山东省济宁市历城区2016-2017学年高二上学期模块考试(期中)英语试卷
国内英语资讯:Top legislator stresses brainstorming in making civil code