Consultation on junk food scoring system

The Food Standards Agency has put out its scoring system for 'junk foods' to consultation.

The FSA is seeking views on a system which rates the nutritional balance of food and drinks by taking into account the salt, sugar, fat, fibre and protein content to produce a simple score. The system will help the TV regulator Ofcom tighten the rules on advertising to children.

Some in the food industry have, perhaps unsurprisingly, already condemned the system as 'simplistic'.

The system would work as follows:

Energy, salt, fat and sugar content of a food given marks out of 10 per 100g (A)
Fibre, protein, and fruit and vegetable content rated out of 5 per 100g (C)
A minus C = overall score

Food scoring four points or more, or drinks with a point or more would be classed as 'unhealthy'.

Dr Joanne Lunn, a nutrition scientists at the British Nutrition Foundation, told the BBC it was not easy to draw up such a system, but praised the FSA model for taking into account positive nutrition content.

The consultation ends 26 September. Ofcom are expected to publish a consultation on how it plans to change the rules on TV advertising by the end of the year after November's Public Health White Paper demanded stricter regulations by early 2007.