KEY POINTS:
The three-level scheme for classifying the healthiness of foods at schools could be used to label all packaged foods, says Health Minister Pete Hodgson.
The Weekend Herald yesterday pressed him to respond to the health select committee's obesity inquiry which has proposed a traffic-light system of labelling, among 49 recommendations.
The committee did not define the system it wants, but its report steers towards a single green, red or orange dot on food packets to show whether the item is healthy, unhealthy or in-between - a simple system, but one which risks putting people off "orange" foods like cheese, high in protein but often also fat.
But the report also presents the voluntary British system of four colour bars on the front of food packaging - red, green or orange - one bar each for fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.
The committee said any system should be based on the Ministry of Health's food and beverage classification scheme - which sorts foods into those that should be eaten daily (fresh vegetables), sometimes (corn flakes) or occasionally (croissants).
Mr Hodgson said he would prefer the food industry to come up with a labelling system voluntarily, but if it failed to, the Government had to "reserve the right to regulate".
The ministry's new school food classification system, unveiled in July, could become the basis of the new labelling system if it proved useful.
The ministry found that young people were turned off by red. "They preferred the idea of a treat every now and then. That's why we moved from colour-coding to that language of every day, sometimes and occasional, to try not to put into society that there were things we should not have because everyone wants chocolate or whatever sometimes."
