nutrition labels on food packaging could encourage consumers to make healthier choices, according to a new study. information outlining the nutritional value of foods raises awareness of the quality of a particular product and when taken into consideration, can help to ward off health implications like obesity.most nutrition labels detail the energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt value of a particular type of food, while some provide additional information such as how much the product amounts to the consumer&39s recommended dietary allowance rda as a percentage.researchers at the university of surrey set out to investigate the relationship between nutritional value labels on food packaging and consumers&39 food choices.for the study, they recruited 2,068 consumers from the uk, germany, poland and turkey. the participants were presented with three food types pizza, yoghurt and biscuits.the nutrition labels on the packaging of each food, which outlined the values for energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt, were covered. these were replaced by four other systems traffic light colours to help consumers understand numerical values a health logo rda and a hybrid version of rda.it was found that through using the four label systems, the participants were able to differentiate between the healthiest, middle and least healthy varieties of the three food types.the results indicate that providing additional information, such as traffic light colours, health logos and rda percentages, alongside basic nutrition labels could have a great impact on consumers when it comes to making better food choices.monique raats, lead researcher at the university, concluded &39front of package food labelling is an important tool in helping consumers to make healthier choices and to encourage the industry to provide healthier food.&39the study has been published in the british journal of nutrition.adnfcr554id801784476adnfcr 
