Australian Daily Intake Guide Posts 60% Growth and Wide Acceptance

12 June 2013 --- Daily Intake Guide (DIG) nutrition labels now appear on more than 7,200 food products in Australian supermarkets providing consumers with an easily understood front-of-pack nutrition labelling system to promote healthy, balanced diets.

A detailed in-store audit* of major supermarkets conducted in May 2013 found the use of DIG labels has increased more than 60% since 2011, with the labelling gaining wide acceptance across all major categories.

Introduced in 2006 as a voluntary industry initiative, the Daily Intake Guide thumbnails show the amount of energy (kilojoules), fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in a standard portion of the food and how that translates to average daily intake.

Australian Food and Grocery Council Chief Executive Gary Dawson said the acceleration in the take up of the DIG in the past two years represented a major investment by food companies and retailers in providing clearer consumer information.

“To have the DIG now on more than 7,200 products represents an investment conservatively estimated at around $72 million in changing food packaging to improve nutritional information,” Mr Dawson said.

“With more and more food products featuring DIG front-of-pack labels, it’s an easy way for people and families to formulate a daily eating plan according to their individual needs and activity levels.”

“When choosing food and drinks, you can use these front-of-pack thumbnails to easily balance your personal energy intake during the entire day to enjoy a healthy, balanced diet,” Mr Dawson said.

Mr Dawson said industry continues to work with Government and other stakeholders to explore a preferred approach to a single, agreed front-of-pack nutrition labelling system but the wide acceptance of the DIG meant that it should remain as a foundation informative element on labels, providing valuable consumer information.

“Extensive international scientific literature has demonstrated that informative elements such as DIG are an essential part of any effective front-of-pack labelling scheme to enable consumers to identify healthier choices,” said Mr Dawson.

“DIG is a $72 million industry investment that provides consumers accurate and easy to understand information on labels. It makes no sense to take away something that has wide acceptance and provides consumers with information they need to make healthy choices,” concluded Mr Dawson.