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Corporate Responsibility Review 2008/2009
 
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Nutritional labelling

We give consumers a wide choice of soft drinks. So it's important that we also give people the information they need to make the choice that's right for them.

All our product labels comply with all relevant UK laws and regulations. Since 2003, we've also voluntarily included detailed nutritional information (including energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat levels) on the labelling of all our products in Great Britain.

Helping consumers make the right choice

When it's legally required or appropriate to do so, we also carry additional information on packs. For example, we label our energy drink Relentless with a high caffeine warning, providing the amount of caffeine per pack as required by law.

But we go one step further and also state that, as a high caffeine drink, it is not suitable for children, pregnant women or those sensitive to caffeine. We do this voluntarily.

Where our products contribute to the five-a-day target for fruit and vegetables, we flag this up too, such as:

  • Capri Sun
  • Appletiser
  • Peartiser
  • Fruitiser

We also use packs to show where we have switched to natural ingredients. For example, Fanta Orange and Fanta Orange Zero packs show that we now use natural carrot and pumpkin extracts for colour.

Guideline Daily Amount labelling

In January 2007, we introduced Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) labelling on the front of our packaging, clearly displaying the content per serving (330ml for cans, 250ml for bottles) of:

  • Calories
  • Sugar
  • Fat
  • Saturated fat
  • Salt

We also include an illustration of a 250ml serving on our bigger bottles to help consumers drink in moderation. The labels also show the percentage of total recommended daily intake that each serving represents. Coca-Cola has adopted the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) approach because we believe it's the best way to give people the information they need to make an informed choice.

Understanding labelling

Consumer research from a number of organisations - such as the European Food Information Centre (EUFIC), TNS and ourselves - has demonstrated that consumers are making use of GDA labelling because it:

  • Provides accurate, clear and transparent information that is relevant for all consumers
  • Improves the nutritional information relating to our products
  • Gives practical support to enable consumers to manage a balanced diet
  • Empowers consumers to make the choices that are right for them, based on individual lifestyle needs. We give information to help consumers understand our labels on the health page of the CCGB website.
  • They can also find more information about GDA labelling on a new website: www.gdalabel.org.uk. This was set up by an industry coalition led by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), of which CCGB is a member.