LO SUGAR

Reference Intake and Traffic Light Labels

Reference Intake labels show how much of your reference intake of energy, fat, saturates, sugars and salt a product contains. Since December 2014, the values shown on a reference intake label are set out in European law and for simplicity contain just one set of values for an average ‘adult’ (2).
A traffic-light label will contain the same information found in a reference intake label, but will also indicate at a glance whether these ingredients are high (red), medium (orange) or low (green).
For traffic-light labels you will find different limits for total sugars depending on whether the product is a food or a drink and more importantly if the portion size is greater than 100g or 150ml. The same colour coding system is used on products to show the level of salt, fat and saturated fats (2) (9).

Foods (Total Sugars):

Red for portions above 100g – more than 27g/portion
If less than this figure you use the /100g figures

	Green	Amber	Red
Foods (Total Sugars):	< Less than 5g/100g	> More than 5g/100g and < less than 22.5g/100g	> More than 22.5g/100g

Drinks (Total Sugars):

Red for portions above 150ml – more than 13.5g/portion
If less than this figure you use the /100g figures

	Green	Amber	Red
Drinks (Total Sugars):	< Less than 2.5g/100ml	> More than 2.5g/100ml and < less than 11.25g/100ml	> More than 11.25g/100ml

SUGAR FACTS

• There is no such thing as 'hidden sugar'. It must always be declared on the food label.
• There has been a reduction of 15.4 per cent per capita in consumption of total sugars in the UK since 2001