DT News - UK - New UK food labelling system could benefit oral health

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 24 June 2013

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RUGBY – The British Dental Health Foundation has welcomed a new labelling system that was launched on Wednesday and aims to enable consumers to make healthy choices about their food. The traffic light rating system provides information about levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt and calories, allowing shoppers to compare products directly. The label could have a positive effect on improving oral health.

A number of major manufacturers have announced that they will join all the main UK retailers—including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, the Co-operative and Waitrose—in using the consistent labelling scheme on their products.

Obesity and poor diet cost the NHS billions of pounds every year. Poor diet continues to be a significant factor of the level of poor oral health in the UK. Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation Dr Nigel Carter, OBE, believes there could be a significant impact on future levels of oral health with the introduction of this clear traffic light colour system.

“Greater consistency in front-of-pack food labelling across the UK could have a considerably beneficial impact on the public. We would welcome a recommendation for all food companies to consistently apply a scheme including traffic light colours, as recommended by the Food Standards Agency.”

According to Carter, for many years, dentists have criticised the large amounts of sugars in many foods, to which they are often added as a cheap bulking agent. From the point of view of oral health, it is the frequency of sugar consumption rather than the quantity that is the main concern, as people have moved from three square meals a day to seven to ten snacks, many of which will contain sugar.

“Looking for hidden sugars often listed as sucrose, maltose, glucose, and fructose can help the public cut down on how often they have sugary foods and drinks, and help with both dental health and obesity,” Carter stated. “The Foundation believes this traffic light system will give consumers the information they need to make fully informed choices on the types of foods and drinks they buy. We might not see an immediate upturn in levels of oral health, but it will have a potentially large impact in the future.”

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