Decoding labels

The complicated job of reading food labels is set to get easier thanks to a groundbreaking EU deal, but what are the key things that campaigners want people to look out for?

After years of argument, fierce lobbying and heated debate, the EU has agreed to bring in uniform food labelling across the 27 member countries. The rules mean labels on supermarket shelves will have to spell out energy content along with fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt levels.

But it could take up to five years for the harmonised labels to hit the shelves, which in many cases leaves the consumer with the often puzzling "big four" - energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat. What they actually tell us is open to debate. Take a single figure for carbohydrates, what does it tell a person about sugar content? Not very much - and that is how some companies like it, say some.

"Certain sections of the food industry want to muddy the waters," says Alan Maryon-Davis, professor of public health at Kings College London. "It benefits them if they're not too clear and so they label food in a way that can be misleading."

Many food manufacturers already list all the nutritional content the EU is now demanding. The problem in the UK is different systems are used, including the traffic light system and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA).

"The very thing that is supposed to help you make a choice simply confuses you," says Katharine Jenner, a nutritionist with World Action On Salt and Health (Wash).

So why is it so difficult to work out what is in the food we buy?

Energy

It usually tops any food label - and can also be the start of consumer confusion.

When we eat food we convert it into energy which is used to perform bodily functions such as breathing, circulating blood, moving muscles and maintaining body temperature. This can be written in kilojoules, kilocalories and Calories - or all of them.