Britain is rightly talking about its diet and nutritional health, but the discourse is increasingly shaped by fads and misinformation. We face ever-increasing rates of obesity and diet-related illnesses, at the same time that families are trying to manage rising food prices while still wanting to eat well. Clear food labelling could be one of the most effective tools we have to enable positive choices, yet too often it fails to give people the facts they need.
Simultaneously, some consumers remain sceptical about frozen foods simply because they come from the freezer, despite frozen ingredients often retaining strong nutritional value.
Our Frozen in Focus report shows that only 63% of consumers recognise that frozen food is at least as nutritious as fresh equivalents, and more staggeringly that 79% are unaware that frozen options can be nutritionally superior.
This persistent misconception matters, because when people lack clear nutrition information, they fill the gaps with assumptions. Front-of-pack nutrition labelling has the potential to correct these misunderstandings by making nutritional quality visible in a simple, trusted and standardised way.
The problem with current labelling
Food labels should help people cut through the noise and understand what’s inside the products in front of them, but the current system makes it far too easy for misinformation to take hold. Instead of clarity, families are left trying to interpret a fragmented, voluntary patchwork of formats. Or even, no front of pack information at all.
A labelling system should empower people, but often people are now left guessing.
Why mandatory nutrition labelling works
I have seen first-hand how clear, consistent nutrition labelling can shift behaviour, and the impact is measurable. Following the implementation of Nutri-Score in France, for example, sales of products rated A and B increased by 6.3% and 4.5% between 2022 and 2023, while sales of products rated D and E fell by 1.7% and 6.9%.
Clear nutrition information guides consumers towards healthier choices, and I have seen how easily confusion fills the space when that clarity is missing. Discussions become muddied by headlines about processing or ingredients rather than nutritional quality. That is why Nomad Foods uses the robust, objective nutrient profiling tool developed by the UK Government to assess the health of our portfolio. It is also why the overwhelming majority of our sales now come from products with healthier nutritional profiles.
Reformulation delivers real change by reducing salt, sugar, saturated fat and calories and increasing fibre in everyday products, but these improvements only deliver public health benefits when consumers can see them clearly on pack.
This is why mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling matters. It is one of the simplest tools available. It helps shoppers compare products quickly and confidently. It encourages manufacturers to improve recipes. It creates a level playing field.
Clear labelling would also help correct persistent misconceptions about nutritionally valuable foods that are sometimes overlooked. Fish fingers, for example, have responsible levels of fats, saturated fats and salt, in addition to their vitamin, mineral and protein nutritional density that’s locked in through freezing. Frozen meals can offer nutritionally balanced, convenient and affordable options for households managing tight budgets or time constraints. These are the sorts of nutritional facts consumers should be able to see at a glance.
A call to government
Government now has a real opportunity to bring coherence to the system. A single, mandatory, evidence-based front-of-pack nutritional labelling scheme would give every household the same information, no matter where they shop. It would also give food manufacturers a common standard to innovate and reformulate against, which is exactly how we have been able to grow the proportion of our healthier sales year after year at Nomad Foods.
Many responsible businesses are already taking action, but voluntary systems only get us so far. Regulation works. The initial Soft Drinks Industry Levy led to large reductions in sugar across the category. HFSS placement rules have already prompted widespread recipe changes as companies reduce saturated fat, salt and sugar to meet the non-HFSS threshold. Clear, mandatory front of pack nutrition labelling can deliver similar results across everyday foods.
At Nomad Foods, we see the benefits of transparency every day in our own work. Our Steamfresh range has helped bring millions of additional portions of vegetables into British diets. Our frozen fish range has helped consumers overcome barriers to fish consumption, to support them to achieve the Government’s weekly fish intake recommendations. Across the UK and Ireland, 100% of our portfolio bears the multiple traffic light label, and across the rest of Europe our brands apply locally relevant and evidenced nutrition labelling schemes because we believe consumers deserve information they can trust.
Healthy eating should not be a puzzle. If the Government is serious about improving the nation’s diet, then this is the simplest, most practical place to start. Bring consistency to labels. Make them mandatory. Base them in robust nutrition science. Give consumers the information they need to choose well. It is time to give people the clear, consistent labelling they deserve.