Diet and Health
1985 - Dental Care
Dental care advice is put on sweet wrappers, demonstrating that the Co-op is prepared to highlight information which is not necessarily good news for the product.
1986 - Nutrient Labelling
The Co-op commits to introducing nutrient labelling on all its food products and the first consumer-friendly labelling system using HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW to interpret relevant nutrient levels is introduced.
1987 - First Aid Guidelines
All non-food products carry instructions on what to do in an emergency, for example if the product is swallowed.
1992 - Sanitary Protection Labelling
The Co-op is the first retailer to ensure its sanitary protection products carry prominent warnings about Toxic Shock Syndrome.
1993 - Folic Acid
Following the spirit rather than the letter of the law, the Co-op is the first retailer to make a 'medical' claim on products containing folic acid, passing on the Government's advice that folic acid helps reduce the risk of Spina Bifida in babies.
1994 - Liver Warning
Advice to women not to eat liver during pregnancy is incorporated onto liver and pate packaging as excess Vitamin A may harm the developing foetus.
1994 - Allergy Advice / Food Intolerance Warnings
A policy initiated with a voluntary commitment in 1994 to highlight nuts to help people with allergies has been continually reviewed and updated. It now extends to nuts, sesame seeds, sesame seed oil, eggs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, shellfish, cow's milk, soya and gluten - the major food allergens. Clear labelling helps sufferers to avoid these products. To help prevent nut allergy, women from families with a history of allergy or asthma are warned not to eat nuts when pregnant or breast feeding. Warnings are flashed onto all products containing 25% or more nuts and onto all products containing nuts eaten daily or marketed at children.
1995 - Salt Assault /Fat Attack
The Co-op challenges suppliers to reduce the amount of fat and salt in Co-op products to help achieve Nutrition Task Force targets. The Co-op becomes the first retailer to label calories and fat content per serving on front of pack and grams of salt on the reverse. Trans Fatty Acid is labelled on fats, biscuits and meat products where information on its presence is available.
1996 - Sweeteners
The words 'with sweeteners' are featured on the front of all Co-op Brand products containing sweeteners. The information panel is used to show the amount of saccharin per serving.
1996 - Soft Drink Warnings
Parents are advised on pack that the frequent drinking of sugary drinks and fruit juices may lead to decay and poor nutrition. They are advised to use half the normal quantity of concentrate for small children.
1996 - Alcoholic Drink Warnings
The Co-op leads industry by putting sensible drinking advice on its wines and spirits, in addition to alcohol units already stated on the label. It begins campaigning for a change in the law which technically prohibits such information.
1997 - Dental Advice - Sweets
The Co-op wins the Golden Carrot Award for the best contribution by industry to the promotion of health in the field of sugar. This award recognises the innovation of the Co-op, which voluntarily puts an 'Advice to Parents' panel on 100 Co-op Brand products.
1998 - Suncare
We have consistently led the market in the responsible retailing of suncare products. Initiatives such as 'profit free' and low pricing of even the highest protection factors, have made sensible suncare more affordable, allowing our customers to follow the advice and precautions that we publish each season on how to stay safe from the sun.
1998 - Guideline Daily Amounts Panel
Guideline Daily Amounts are introduced to help consumers make better use of nutrition labelling. Initially Guideline Daily amounts were only given for Calories and Fat; Salt was included from Spring 1998. Values for Calories, Fat and Salt per serving are displayed in a roundel on the front of pack (with the exception of wines and beers) - nutrition information at a glance.
1999 - LoSalt Initiative
The Co-op is the first retailer own brand to carry the LoSalt Logo. A range of products including sausages, soups and ready meals have been introduced and a wide range of other products is under development. This step is taken to help consumers cut down on the amount of salt in their diet.
1999 - Co-op eggs - non GM and no colourants
We ensure that own-brand free range and barn eggs are laid by hens whose diet contains maize and soya which is non-GM in origin. The diet does not contain any ingredients designed solely to enhance yolk colour.
2000 - Blackmail
The first inquiry launched as part of the Food Crimes initiative highlights parental concern about the impact of TV advertising of food and drink products on children's diets. We commit ourselves to a voluntary ban on advertising food and drink products that are high in fat, sugar or salt during children's TV hours. We call on others in the food and drink industry to follow our lead and campaign for the Independent Television Commission (ITC) to impose a ban.
2000 - Animal Feed
We call for a Europe-wide ban on the feeding of animal waste to farm animals. In the wake of the BSE crisis, which we now know can be largely blamed on animal waste being fed back to farm animals, our customers are dismayed at the way the regulations still pick and choose between acceptable and unacceptable feed ingredients like blood and bone meal. The Co-op believes this is tantamount to cannibalism and must be stamped out if governments want to eliminate potential safety risks and restore consumer confidence in meat.
2000 - Salt reduced in Bread
The Co-op cuts salt content of its standard white and Value white loaves to its lowest ever level in a move to help improve the national diet. The Co-op puts pressure on the industry with a nation-wide taste test which highlights that there are no discernible taste differences between bread with a higher salt content and the bread that has reduced salt.
2003 - 5 A Day
The Co-op supports the Government advice to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and introduces a logo on the front of appropriate packs. The 5 A DAY symbol will help customers choose healthy products and where possible the symbol states how much a portion is.
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