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The ads will be seen on ITV, satellite channels, and a Welsh version will be broadcast on S4C.

Three 10-second ads – each with a different voiceover and twist to reflect how easy it is to use the traffic light labelling system – will run until 13 February. Posters will be used outside some supermarkets during February, and ads will appear in the national press and in women’s weekly magazines from late January.

Labelling complex foods such as ready meals, pies and pizzas, with clear and honest nutritional information is an important step in helping to improve the nation’s diet.

The red, amber and green colour coding used in the traffic light system provides easy-to-understand advice on foods that have high, medium and low amounts of saturated fats, sugars and salt.

Another system currently being used by some manufacturers and retailers is based on percentages of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) of fat, sugar and salt (for example a portion contains 35% of your GDA of salt).

Food Standards Agency Chair Deirdre Hutton said: ‘Most manufacturers and retailers are now using front-of-pack nutritional labelling and this is good news. Some shoppers find extra GDA information useful – and all industry needs to do is add traffic light colours to their GDA schemes to ensure the consumer gets the best of both worlds.

‘Our new labelling TV ads, like the traffic light approach, are clear and simple – with the beauty being that these labels speak for themselves.

‘Our extensive and published research demonstrates that the use of traffic light colours is key to helping people interpret nutritional information on foods. We want to highlight to shoppers that these labels are now out there and really can help us all to make healthier choices.

‘Our new labelling TV ads, like the traffic light approach, are clear and simple – with the beauty being that these labels speak for themselves.'

Further information

• The Food Standards Agency food labelling scheme Opens new window