Nestlé to adopt color-coded labeling for UK breakfast cereals

Nestlé’ breakfast cereals sold in the UK will carry front-of-pack nutrition labels developed by the Department of Health in 2013.

The roll-out is starting this month and is expected to be completed by early 2018.  

Applying the color-coded labeling to cereal products was a decision made by Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW), a joint venture established between Nestlé and General Mills in 1990.

“The decision... aligns the Nestlé cereal range with what has become the common UK labeling scheme,” said Gharry Eccles, UK regional VP of CPW.

“It is also in line with other Nestlé products... providing consumers with a consistent approach to nutrition labeling in the UK.”

The company said it has been using this labeling on its wholly-owned confectionery and beverage products since 2013.

Elements of nutrition label

The color-coded label contains the energy value in kilojoules and kilocalories per 100g/ml; the grammage of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt; and portion size. It also features the colors red, amber or green to describe the nutrient content as high, medium or low.

The cereal brands Nestlé currently sells in the UK include Cheerios, Clusters, Cookie Crisp, Golden Nuggets, Shreddies and Shredded Wheat.

The company announced earlier this year these cereal products would see a reduction of a further 10% of sugar in the average content by the end of 2018, in addition to the 15% reduction already achieved since 2010.