Obesity strategy set to push single system for food labels

Health secretary Alan Johnson is expected to call for a single scheme based on the best available research.

The food and retail industry is divided between “traffic light” labelling scheme favoured by the Food Standards Agency and one based on Guideline Daily Amounts, as promoted by Tesco.

Some supermarkets, such as Asda, have adopted a hybrid scheme.

Asda today backed calls for a consistent, industry-wide approach.

The retailer's head nutritionist, Vanessa Hattersley, said: "Retailers have made great strides in the fight against obesity. However it's now time for the entire food industry to follow our lead and introduce a consistent labelling system that combines both GDAs and traffic lights."

Asda also said today it had become the first retailer to hit the Food Standard Agency's salt reduction targets, removing 396 tonnes of salt from its 12,000 own-brand products two years ahead of the 2010 deadline.