Health Secretary John Reid yesterday signalled his intent to drive through contentious food-labelling reforms.

Reid outlined his plans for mandatory health warnings on food at a session of the House of Commons select committee on the public health White Paper.

In comments to London's Evening Standard, he said: "We must make sure that busy shoppers have a system of labelling to make it easier for people to see at a glance how individual foods contribute to a healthy, balanced diet."

But some food companies feel the scheme is unscientific and would prefer a voluntary approach.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drink Federation said: "The industry has said it is willing to work with the Government. We think that doing things on a voluntary basis is a much more constructive way forward."

However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that a voluntary system might be hit by poor take-up: "John Reid was reiterating that we are not afraid to go down the mandatory route if enough people don't adopt health labelling on a voluntary basis."

She added that the controversial traffic light system was still an option, adding that the department wanted to see a warning system in place in 2006.

by Tom Bill

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