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4.3 Non-governmental organisations
92. De Telegraaf (30-01-2004). Dikmakers krijgen rood van Consumer Association.
“The Consumer Association wants to help consumers in the supermarket by way of using the colours red, yellow and green on packages to distinguish the ‘fat-makers’ from more healthy products.”92 There is a wide spectrum of non-governmental organisations in the Netherlands which regularly participate in the public debate on overweight and obesity. Organisations include the Consumer Association, the Dutch Heart Association, and the Dutch Obesity Association. The Nutrition Centre, whilst partially funded by the government, sits most comfortably in this section on NGOs. NGOs have the responsibility to question the policies of both the government and the private sector – putting pressure on both to take responsibility and act in the public’s best interests.
93. De Telegraaf (16-02-2004). Reclamegeld tegen overgewicht.
For this reason NGOs often take on the role of devil’s advocate. The Consumer Association does this frequently on the subject of overweight and obesity and has proposed the traffic light system which is intended to inform on ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ foods. The Nutrition Centre has suggested that food companies could use one percent of their marketing budgets for public information campaigns about a healthy dietary pattern.93 Labelling of food products Labelling is a way of informing the public about the nutritional value of that product. On the basis of this information, the consumer can then decide whether the product fits in their dietary pattern and how much of it could be consumed. Packaging claims are a subject of marketing as well as labelling. The NGOs seem to agree that labelling is of major importance, however product labelling is still often unclear. The Consumer Association proposes the implementation of the traffic light system on product labelling, to guide consumers towards healthier eating options. Success of such a scheme would be dependent on an effective public information campaign to support the labelling. Without it, consumers may find it difficult to understand whether red signifies ‘never eat’ or ‘once a week’. NGOs agree that labelling of ingredients such as fat and sugar requires standardisation and regulation. Currently this is not the case; claims in use are open to interpretation and misunderstanding: