Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers

As if food labelling was not already confusing enough for consumers a group of experts on nutrition has recently called into question the basis on which many of us, particularly those concerned about their weight, choose what to buy and eat.

Calorie counting has been the main measure for assessing a food’s impact on weight loss for more than 200 years.

A calorie is the energy people get from food and eating more calories than our bodies can process increases our weight.

However, some nutritionists have suggested recently that the calorie counts in the food we buy could be up to 25% inaccurate, because the food’s texture, fibre content and how it is cooked all affect the amount of energy we get from it.

We also have to consider how our bodies process the food we eat. For instance, the body has to work harder to digest protein and fibre.

One solution that has been suggested by a company that specialises in helping people to lose weight is a system based on a daily allowance, taking into account a person’s gender, age, weight and height.

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Dietician Gaynor Bussell, of the British Diatetic Association, however, suggests that the most important thing is to eat healthily and that it is not a precise science to calculate this.

For some time nwo there has been disagreement about food labelling and the EU eventually earlier this year rejected the “traffic light” system that many consumers and food suppliers in the UK favour as being the easiest to understand.

Matters are now even more complicated since the UK’s new coalition government has shifted some of the responsibilities formerly carried out by the Food Standards Agency to Defra (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The FSA remains responsible for nutrition and food safety, while Defra takes over responsibility for labelling policy on issues other than these two.

So how are shoppers to make decisions especially when the weekly food shop is likely to be done under some time pressure?

More information is available on the FSA website – of particular interest is the regulation of labelling of GM (Genetically Modified) ingredients, which advises that products such as meat, milk and eggs from animals fed on GM animal feed don’t need labelling, nor do products produced with GM technology.

It also warns consumers to be careful of terms like “farmhouse” and “traditional”. For example, it advises that “farmhouse” should only be used when the product has been made in a house on a farm or in the main dwelling of the farmer.

If the main issue for consumers is choosing healthy foods it is possible that the work of the Biopesticides Developers may in the future give some grounds for confidence.

The low-chem agricultural products these organisations are developing include biopesticides, biofungicides and yield enhancers that leave no residue in food or the land and help farmers produce healthy food in a sustainable way.

All of which would be better for the environment, the land and for human health.