Will the new food labelling scheme get the green light?

What's in a label? Health experts are hoping that yet another "traffic light" labelling scheme in supermarkets will stop Britain's slump toward obesity.

If you ever look at the labels on the food you eat, chances are you will already get the general gist. Many foodstuffs are rated for their fat, sugar and salt content. If it is low the product is marked green, medium gets an amber and if it is high then the product is marked red.

Traffic lights, we are told, make a difference. Studies have shown that they are very successful in changing our behaviour. The Co-operative produced a survey last week showing that 41pc of women and 30pc of men would leave a product on the shelf if it had a red traffic light.

But instead of one coherent system, the food industry has produced a mishmash of labelling schemes that has not served the public well. The result has been years of confusion over food labelling in supermarkets.

The latest voluntary scheme, announced last week, is the culmination of years of dithering. The Food Standards Agency first proposed traffic-light food labelling in 2008, but supermarkets and food companies objected. Kellogg's and Tesco were among the objectors, complaining that products were judged on 100g sizes rather than recommended portions, which confused customers.

The new system is called a hybrid scheme, which means that it will contain elements of all of the different pack labelling schemes we are used to. So you will see the traffic light colours based on a standard 100g size, the amount of sugar, salt and fat as a percentage guideline daily amount, as well as the words "high", "medium" or "low" by each of these categories.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. The idea behind the traffic light labelling scheme is to improve levels of obesity in Britain.

b. More men than women react positively to the traffic light  scheme.

c. The Food  Standards  Agency successfully set up the traffic light  food labelling  scheme in 2008.

d. The new system will include additional information to the original scheme.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a.      Why is the idea of traffic lights used in the schemes?

b.      How is the new hybrid system different from the original scheme?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. general idea ( para. 2)

b. questionnaire (para. 3)

c. mixture (para. 4)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a.      If you ever look at the labels on the food you eat, you will probably already get the general gist.

If you ever looked………………………………………………………………………………………….

b.      Kellogg’s and Tesco said that the products were judged on 100 g sizes rather than recommended portions, which confused customers.

“ The products……………………………………………………………………….”, said Kellogg’s and Tesco.

c.      The Cooperative produced a survey last week.

A  survey…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

How do you think it is best to reduce child obesity?