Traffic lights vs GDAs

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GfK study shows: Traffic lights work, GDAs mislead

16.06.2009

Consumers understand traffic light labels; GDA labels mislead. These conclusions were reached by a foodwatch-commissioned study conducted by the market research institute GfK. According to this study traffic light labels enable consumers to accurately compare products. Whereas, with GDA labelling, a large majority of shoppers were unable to correctly identify the product with the higher sugar content.

By using smaller portion sizes and other tricks, food manufacturers are able to calculate nutritional values that make their products look good. Even foods with extremely high levels of sugar can be made to look like healthy “fitness” products using the voluntary nutrition labelling system developed by the industry's GDA model – a legal form of consumer deception. Traffic light labels provide real transparency with no tricks, which is why foodwatch is calling for their use. These are the findings of the GfK study:

With traffic light labels consumers are able to understand nutritional content

The market research institute GfK first showed the approx. 1,000 representatively selected consumers a product with the GDA label as it is found in supermarkets today: The breakfast cereal Trio from Nestlé. This product contains 37 percent sugar, which is significantly high or very high in comparison with other breakfast cereals. With the GDA label 63.8 percent of the respondents were able to recognise this high sugar content. A second group, also with approx. 1,000 representatively selected consumers, were shown the same product, but this time with a traffic light label instead of a GDA label. A significantly higher percentage of respondents in this group – 88.9 percent – correctly identified Nestlé Trio as containing “very high” or “high” quantities of sugars.

Comparing two products: GDA misleads consumers

The difference in responses was even more drastic for the second question. Here, the respondents were asked to compare the sugar content of Nestlé Trio with that of another breakfast cereal from the same manufacturer, Nestlé Fitness Fruits. In the group shown both products with traffic light labels 92.1 percent of the respondents were able to identify correctly that Trio contained more sugar than Fitness Fruits. In the GDA group only one in four (25.8 percent) were able to reach the correct conclusion. A large majority (69.6%) of the consumers interviewed were misled by the industry’s labelling and unable to correctly identify the product with the higher sugar content (Trio).

Devastating verdict for opponents of the traffic light

The results of the GfK study are devastating for the opponents of traffic light labelling. With GDA labels consumers are not even able to accurately compare the nutritional value of products from the same manufacturer. The federal government must put an end to this form of consumer deception once and for all – and introduce legislation that will make traffic light labelling mandatory for all food manufacturers.