Start dishing up the facts please

It must be something to do with the fact that we wear fewer clothes that makes us think about our weight when the sun shines. And then there’s holiday preparation – getting your body “beach ready” makes us all look askance at the extra pounds around our tummies or on our hips, prompting changes to our eating patterns in the hope of shedding more than clothing layers in time for hitting the poolside.

Of course diet and health are weighty issues – and the government has just launched a new obesity action plan to try and deal with one of the biggest causes of poor health in the UK.

The proposals would see sweets banned from supermarket checkout areas, a possible watershed banning adverts for foods high in salt and sugar before 9pm and stopping two-for-one deals being offered on junk food.

Then there are plans to stop energy drinks being sold to anyone under the age of 16 and calorie counts on all restaurant and takeaway menus.

There will be people who think such drastic measures are interfering too much in people’s lives and consumer choices, but at Which? we feel that giving consumers more information about what they are choosing to eat can only be a good thing.

After all we know that even when you think you’re choosing wisely, there can be all sorts of hidden sugars in our food.

Our research into cereals, for instance, has found that even porridges and granolas can contain more than three-quarters of the recommended daily amount of sugar in just one portion.

So we would like to see the traffic light labelling – which is already on some food products – made mandatory on all so we know the levels of fat, sugar and salt contained inside and can make a judgement based on that knowledge.

The traffic light scheme is purely voluntary at the moment but it’s clear that a non-standardised approach is confusing for consumers – and sometimes misleading. Helping people to compare – at a glance – how much sugar, salt and fat a product contains would be a great way to really improve the public health.

Please send me your consumer questions to askalex@which.co.uk