After an almost unprecedented amount of industry lobbying, MEPs today rejected a traffic light style food labeling system that was described by industry as overly simplistic.

The Commission proposed the legislation in an attempt to curb the rise in obesity in the EU, stating that consumers are confused by current food labeling standards and that a new system was needed to ensure consumers were able to make an educated choice.

The proposed traffic light system would have led to foods falling into three categories. The system was intended to simplify the nutritional information already available to consumers with healthy foods being labeled as green and unhealthy foods being labeled as red. Foods that fell in between the two extremes would have been marked as yellow. However, this simplification of the rules was seen by industry as being overly simplistic with industry claiming that foods marked as red would have been rejected by consumers without them having investigated why the food was categorized that way.

Campaign groups in favor of the proposals cited research that stated consumers find color coded food labeling easier to understand. However, sources told EU Reporter that depending on how and what was measured, some foods could fall into the wrong category due to high levels of fat despite their being relatively healthy in other aspects.

The Parliament instead adopted proposals for the display of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) on food packaging. A system backed by industry as it provides a more detailed picture of a food’s nutritional value. The GDA system is similar to that used in some supermarkets and by some manufacturers.

Many will see the parliamentary vote as a victory for industry lobbyists in The Parliament as it is claimed over €1 billion was spent on the effort to dissuade MEPs from voting in favor of the traffic light system. The adopted proposals will now be sent to the European Council for further discussion and amendments.