Through a pilot launch this autumn, non-profit organisation Foundation Earth will issue front-of-pack eco-scores on food and drink products. The labels will rate a product’s environmental credentials using a traffic-light scoring system.

The system behind the labels looks at farming, processing, packaging and transport. It assesses the environmental impact of a product based upon carbon (49% weighted), water usage (17%), water pollution (17%) and biodiversity loss (17%).

 

Food Labelling Services comments:

This pilot scheme labelling will sit alongside current nutrition traffic light labelling and rank the environmental impact of each food product allowing customers to easily assess whether they are buying goods that have a low-carbon footprint from suppliers focused on sustainability. For most of us, decisions about what to eat involve many factors, including how healthy or tasty food is likely to be. We simply don’t have the time, the motivation, or the ability to always figure out exactly which food option has the lowest carbon footprint. The consumer should be educated however, as with the current traffic light labelling, as to what the eco-scores mean.