Table 2.

Substantive content of FOP nutrition labelling regulation

Label, Jurisdiction (Year Endorsed)	Regulatory objectives	Display specifications	Nutrients/Food components included	Nutrient scoring mechanism	Reference amount used	Criteria validated	Scope	Specified exclusions	Policy coherence
Nordic Keyhole Sweden (1989); Denmark And Norway (2009), Lithuania (2013)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Exact colour, clearance around label, separation from other claims	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, fibre, wholegrain, artificial sweeteners	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, per serve, % energy	Construct validity; peer-reviewed	Packaged foods and drinks, unpackaged fresh foods, restaurant meals	Non-basic foods, for example, snacks	Education campaign, integration into school curricula
High Salt Warning Label Finland (1993)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Main panel not specified	Sodium	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g		Limited categories of high salt foods, (including unpackaged)	N/A	Education campaign, part of major heart health programme with public institution partners/media
Protective Food Logo Slovenia (1993)	Inform consumers		Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, added sugar, fibre, energy	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks, restaurant meals
Healthier Choice Symbol Singapore (1998)	Inform consumers	Size, clearance around label, separation from other claims, written government endorsement	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, fibre, calcium, artificial sweeteners	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, per serve	Predictive validity	Packaged foods and drinks, unpackaged fresh foods, restaurant meals		Education campaign, can be used in advertising with approval
Heart Symbol Finland (2000)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation		Sodium, saturated fat, unsaturated fat, added sugar, fibre, energy	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL	Construct validity	Packaged foods and drinks, restaurant meals		Education campaign
Heart Tick Nigeria (2005)	Inform consumers		Sodium, total fat, trans fat, added sugar, fibre	Thresholds, multiple category			Packaged foods and drinks
Traffic Light System UK (2006)	Inform consumers, Incentivise reformulation	Legibility, colour, contrast and delineation	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, energy	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL, per serve		Packaged foods and drinks	Foods exempt from mandatory nutrition labelling in EU law
Choices Programme Poland (2008), Czech Republic (2011)	Inform consumers	Colour (different colours used for basic and non-basic foods)	Sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, fibre, energy, artificial sweeteners	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, per serve, % energy	Multiple construct/ predictive validity peer-review	Packaged foods and drinks, unpackaged fresh foods
Guideline Daily Amount Thailand (2011)		Written direction: ‘should consume in small amounts and exercise for better health’	Sodium, total fat, total sugar, energy	N/A	Per serve	N/A	Limited categories	N/A	Education campaign (consumer facing and food manufacturers)
Traffic Light Labels South Korea (2011)	Inform consumers		Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, caffeine		Per serve		Limited categories of children’s snack	N/A	Education campaign, part of regulated school zones restricting sales and advertising of unhealthy products
Reference Intakes European Union (2011)	Inform consumers	Size, legibility	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, energy	N/A	Per serve	N/A	Packaged foods and drinks
Guideline Daily Amount Malaysia (2012)	Inform consumers	Size, monochrome colours	Energy	N/A	Per serve	N/A	Packaged foods and drinks	Special purpose foods, infant formula	Education campaign
Guideline Daily Amount Philippines (2013)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Size, contrast, placement (lower right hand portion)	Energy	N/A	Per serve	N/A	Packaged foods and drinks		Education campaign (industry led)
Traffic Light Labels Ecuador (2014)	Inform consumers	Size, not compulsory principal panel	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat		Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks	‘Traditional’ (unprocessed) foods, for example, fruit, meat, milk; foods without nutritive value	Education campaign
Guideline Daily Amount Mexico (2014)	Inform consumers	Size	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, energy	N/A	Per serve	N/A	Packaged foods and drinks	Herbs and spices, vinegar, foods with less than 1% daily amounts or bulk sale products
Nutrio-Sello Mexico (2014)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Size, colour	Sodium, saturated fat, total sugar, energy		Per Serve		Packaged foods and drinks
Health Star Rating System Australia (2014), New Zealand (2014)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Five design variants permitted, colour not specified provided sufficient contrast	Sodium, saturated fat, total sugar, protein, fibre, fruit vegetable nut legume, energy	Overall algorithm, operating in six broad categories	Per 100 g/100 mL	Construct validity; peer-reviewed	Packaged foods and drinks	Foods without nutrient declaration, infant formula, formulated supplementary sports foods, foods for special dietary uses, alcohol	Education campaign, aims to align with dietary guidelines, nutrition claims legislation, nutrient reference values, some link to public procurement
Stop Sign Labels Chile (2015)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Font, size, removal of proximal marketing tools (eg, cartoons), small packs can display on side, written government endorsement	sodium, saturated fat, total sugar, energy	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks	Products with no added sugars, sodium or saturated fat, bulk foods, infant formula, baby food unless has added sugar, foods for special uses, supplements, some sports foods, table-top sugar substitutes	Education campaign Implementing law integrates with advertising restrictions, school food procurement
Traffic Light Labels Iran (2015)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation		Sodium, total fat, trans fat, total sugar, energy	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks
Weqaya Logo United Arab Emirates (2015)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation		Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, trans fat, total sugar, fibre, wholegrain, artificial sweeteners	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, Per Serve		Packaged foods and drinks, restaurant meals	Deep fried foods	Link to hospital retail procurement, food outlet menu labelling, part of broader Weqaya NCD reduction programme
Healthy Living Guarantee Croatia (2015)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Written government endorsement	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, fibre, wholegrain, added aromas and preservatives	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks, unpackaged fresh foods		One of five components of Healthy Living National Programme
Traffic Light Labels Sri Lanka (2016 drinks, 2019 food)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Size, colour, multiple languages, main panel	Sodium, total fat, total sugar	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks	Primary agricultural products, spices, foods for special dietary uses, bulk packs, infant formula	Education campaign, part of National Multisectoral Action Plan on NCDs
Healthier Choices Logo Thailand (2016)	Inform consumers	Size, separation from other statements, contrast	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar, fibre, calcium, protein	Hybrid: overall algorithm broad categories and thresholds, multiple categories	Per 100 g/100 mL		Limited categories of food and drink	Infant formula, special purpose foods, supplements, alcohol, medical foods, water	Education campaign
Red Warning Labels Israel (2017)		Principal panel (small pack exception), ‘conspicuous manner’, size, colour	Sodium, saturated fat, total sugar	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks	Water, tea, coffee, yeast, infant formula, alcohol, special purpose foods	Part of national development strategy
Green Signpost Israel (2017)	Inform consumers		Sodium, saturated fat, total sugar, fibre	Thresholds, multiple categories			Not yet outlined	Products with artificial sweeteners; products that carry red warning labels	Part of national development strategy
Stop Sign Labels Peru (2017)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Size, front panel, placement (top right corner), written government endorsement and directions ‘avoid excessive consumption’	Sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, total sugar	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mL		Packaged foods and drinks		Stop signs must also appear in advertisements, linked to school food procurement
Nutri-Score France (2017), Spain (2018), Belgium (2019)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Colour, size, placement (lower left hand corner)	Sodium, saturated fat, total sugar, protein, fibre, fruit vegetable nut legume, energy	Overall algorithm, operating in three broad categories	Per 100 g/100 mL	Multiple construct and predictive, peer-reviewed	Packaged foods and drinks	Infant formula, aromatic herbs, teas, coffees, yeasts, alcohol	Part of National Nutrition Health Programme, use will be mandatory in advertisements
Healthier Choice Logo Malaysia (2017)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Max and min size, colour, separation from brand name, paired with energy icon	Sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, added sugar, fibre, wholegrain, calcium	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, per serve, % wholegrain		Packaged foods and drinks		Education campaign, integrated into school curriculum, part of National Action Plan for Nutrition
Healthier Choice Symbol Brunei (2017)	Inform consumers		Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, trans fat, total sugar, added sugar, fibre, wholegrain, energy, cholesterol	Thresholds, multiple category	Per 100 g/100 mL, % energy, % composition		Packaged foods and drinks		Education campaign
Stop Sign Labels Uruguay (2018)	Inform consumers, incentivise reformulation	Size, main panel, cannot be covered by other elements, placement ‘preferably at top’	Sodium, saturated fat, total fat, total sugar (NB fat not counted if from nuts and seeds, sugar does not count if lactose or naturally present in fruit and vegetables)	Thresholds, foods and drinks	Per 100 g/100 mLrecent rapid uptake of label		Packaged foods and drinks	Foods with no added sugars, fats and sodium; foods for medicinal purposes, supplements, infant formula and baby food, sweeteners	Linked to school curricula, linked to public procurement
Good Food Logo Zambia (2018)			Anticipated to cover nutrients relevant to NCDs and micronutrient deficiencies						Education campaign

Notes: Blank cells indicate no relevant information was identified; N/A indicates metric not applicable for example, non-interpretive labels do not employ nutrient criteria.

FOP, front-of-pack; NCD, non-communicable disease.