Traffic light system for sustainable food choice

If meals are marked in the canteen after a traffic light system, choose to hungry workers for the green light, the mark of a healthy or sustainable menu. This could be a simple method in order to influence food selection.

Researchers at the Queen Mary University in London, used traffic lights in a simulated lunch canteen, to the customer display, as are eco-friendly and how healthy the food is. It showed that the study participants chose more environmentally friendly or healthier meals. Some people, the environmental friendliness of a meal was even more important than a healthy food. New in this study was compared to the traffic-light labelling of foods that you investigated the relative impact in terms of a healthy diet, and environmental friendliness, in terms of CO2 emissions.

Study author Dr Magda Osman said: "The traffic light labelling of menus has quite an impact on the meals people choose. This simple technique could easily be used for menus in Bars, cafes, Restaurants and canteens." To convince, given the current socio-political interests, the people of a sustainable diet – so less red meat, less endangered species of fish and fewer dairy products, more vegetables instead – the study demonstrates a simple method on how people about the sustainability of a dish can be informed.

ZOU