28 July 2010

Do you ever look at the labelling on your food packaging? Information might be king but do you not just get the feeling that your are being bombarded with the stuff rather than being helped in any way. Check out what my packet of factory produced sandwiches said today...

Here’s what’s on my lunchtime sandwich packing – list of ingredients (with E-number where appropriate); allergy information; an assertion that there’s “no artificial colours, artificial flavourings, or preservatives”; storage information; nutrition information – the amount per pack and per 100g of various constituents with the GDA (Guideline Daily Amount) and percentage of that per pack for each; a “traffic light” indication of ingredients; “display until” date; a vegetarian symbol; NO mayo symbol; information about the packaging (ie source of window, source of carton; disposal of window, disposal of carton, and this section including three symbols); advice about opening pack; a statement about the packaging being reduced by 15% (since when? from what? – who knows); and of course descriptions of the sandwich and its qualities (using these words – good, simple, simple (again), quality and three justs.

Before we go on I can hear you asking. Just what is this product, this exemplar of the sandwich-packaging graphic designer’s art? And how much did it cost for all that quality and goodness and simplicity and simplicity (again), “just like you’d make at home”? Well, it was a mean and measly quid meal, and it was not just a sandwich (it no longer exists in its original form and as I write this is somewhere in alimentary transport between oral intake point and the other end) but a ***** * ******* sandwich. Other sandwich providers are available but are not any cheaper.

Some food packaging may contain less information, some may contain more, some may be printed so small that you need a magnifying instrument to read it. But do we need any more labelling? I ask this question because Tesco (a well known food store; others are available) has plans to add carbon footprint labels to more than 500 own-label lines. Asda, Sainsbury, Co-op and M&S have no plans to follow, among other reasons citing overcrowded product labels (I wonder where they got that idea!).  

Obviously it’s desirable that we should be provided with a reasonable amount of information about products we buy – their constituents, their nutritional qualities where appropriate, their environmental effects. But there’s a limit on what can be included on the packaging; too much information may confuse; is there public demand for more information?; who reads any of it anyway? When it comes to the carbon footprint of food products, will we understand what the figure shown means, is it the right measure of our planetary impact (it’s not the only one and there are different ways of measuring it giving widely varying results), and how on earth are we supposed to incorporate the information, along with all other considerations, into our food purchase choices? Will the Government (or our masters in Brussels) make such labelling compulsory?

For more information on this topic, its context and background see these articles on FOODmanufacture.co.uk:

Tesco ploughs lonely furrow with carbon footprint labels.

Food  manufacturers lukewarm on carbon footprint labelling.

Terry Leahy: Let’s call a spade a spade on green issues.

Asda sceptical about carbon footprint labels.

Just in case you were wondering about the three justs: Just Cheddar On Oatmeal Bread, Just Cheddar On Oatmeal Bread; and Just Like You'd Make At Home (which you know already). And now you also know what your really wanted to know, just what was in the packaging.

 

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