“Germany’s Minister of Food and Agriculture Horst Seehofer claims the British voluntary “traffic light” system for informing consumers of fat, sugar, saturated fatty acid and salt contents of dairy and other food products is too simplistic and an insult to the intelligence of shoppers.

This opinion was voiced in answer to criticism of the proposed German version. The warning planned for foods in Germany uses a “method that requires continual calculation, one that is dangerously misleading”, according to former Minister of Agriculture Renate Konast. She urges adoption of the easily understandable British system.

Certainly, the proposed German answer to the British red, amber, green label is not for simple minds. It gives the contents of calories, sugar, fat, saturated fatty acid and cooking salt with additional information on each ingredient’s recommended daily consumption. So far the story is fairly straightforward. But then it’s time for shoppers to get their calculators out because the recommended daily consumption is based on the energy requirement of an adult woman. Youngsters or working men, or non-average women for that matter, have to get down to some maths before they can work out how much of their daily recommended intake a fruit yoghurt, for example, might represent.