TRAFFIC LIGHT FIGHT GOES ON

An East Midlands Euro MP has pledged that her battle for clearer labelling on the food we buy will go ahead – despite losing a key European vote on “traffic light” labeling last month – and is urging supporters to sign up on her website

Glenis Willmott, Labour’s spokesperson in the European Parliament on food labelling said. “40,000 people are dying each year in Britain alone, because of high levels of salt and fat in their diets. We cannot let this continue.”

Glenis Willmott has promised supporters from the British Heart Foundation, Which? and other campaigning groups that – however long it takes – she will fight to establish a traffic light system as the norm across Europe, so that shoppers can easily see – by means of a red, amber or green traffic light – how each food rates in terms of fats, salt and sugar.

“This fight goes on!” Said Glenis. “Last month in Strasbourg, a well-funded lobby by food manufacturers, using misleading information, convinced a majority of MEPs to vote against traffic lights. But it is clear that consumers want traffic lights, and all the indications are that many other organisations will add their support.”

“The evidence is clear. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a report a few weeks ago which concluded that unhealthy foods have wreaked a "terrible toll of ill health" on the nation and placed a "substantial" strain on the economy, and now NICE, the Government’s own health watchdog, are calling for the introduction of a "traffic light" food labeling system.”

“This campaign goes on. I’m contacting the various organisations who have supported the traffic light system up till now, and I’m asking individual supporters to sign up on my website www.gleniswillmott.eu so they can be kept informed and get involved.”