Dutch government mulls nutrition logo

The Dutch government is to investigate bringing in a nutrition logo to encourage healthy eating, according to the health minister.

State secretary for health, welfare and sport Paul Blokhuis announced the government would consider the possible introduction of a new food choice logo after the issue was debated by MPs in the Lower House.

The Ministry will look at research studies into healthy eating logos, including a recently published survey by Dutch consumer group Consumentenbond.

The 1000-strong survey found that, overall, consumers feel positively about front-of-pack nutrition schemes, with 71% thinking they are a good idea. Just over one fifth (22%) are neutral while 5% do not think it is a good idea.

Over half of those questioned (51%) said they would like to see the UK’s traffic light scheme on the front of food package while 29% chose France’s Nutri-Score and 8% chose the Nordic region’s Keyhole.

Babs van der Staak, communications officer at the group, said: “Consumentenbond prefers a logo with a traffic light, because the survey shows that this is what consumers prefer.

“But we think the government should do further research to see what logo is best for Dutch consumers. This could be The French or the British logo or maybe a combination of both.”