McCain lays all its chips on the table

Frozen food giant McCain is to put "traffic light" labels on its British products as part of a $57 million campaign aimed at restoring its image amid concern about obesity levels.

The privately owned Canadian group is the biggest chip-maker in the world but its UK chief executive, Nick Vermont, said markets had been affected by the growing obesity debate.

"We buy 12 per cent of Britain's potato crop and we're here to ensure employment and to make money. We're not ashamed of that. In the last 18 months, the frozen potato market, from a 30-year period of almost constant growth, has stopped growing."

The business wants to improve its reputation and will introduce the Food Standards Agency's recommended traffic light labels, where green indicates healthy levels of ingredients such as fat and salt, and red very high levels. The group will also display recommended daily allowances.

The labelling will appear first on McCain's chip products before being phased in on ranges such as pizzas and toasted sandwiches.

"[This campaign] is about clearing up the confusion, the misconceptions, about our products. Our food has, in effect, been demonised in this debate. Chips are not per se unhealthy."

He was not concerned about what the labelling might say about his company's products. "Every single one of our potato products has a green traffic light for saturated fat. This will be a surprising fact for many people."

In New Zealand, public health lobbyists are pushing for some form of traffic light labelling of food, urging the idea on MPs last month at the health select committee's obesity inquiry.

However the idea divided anti-obesity groups and the food industry, and an alternative was discussed - a "daily guideline" approach that lays out a product's percentage of recommended intake of sugar, salt, fat and calories.

- INDEPENDENT, STAFF REPORTER