Yorkshire Euro-MP, Linda McAvan, who is Labour's Public Health spokesperson in the European Parliament said;

"The public is fed up of buying so called "low fat" yoghurts for their children thinking they are making a healthy option only to find them high in sugar.

"A recent survey by the UK consumers group Which in my constituency showed that 99% of people want health claims on food checked before they go on sale. People are surprised that such claims are not yet fully regulated.

"We are faced with an obesity time bomb in the UK. Only proper nutritional information on food will help us to make choices to ward off heart disease, stroke and obesity.

"Under these new regulations, vague, misleading and often false health claims on food such as "low fat, nutritious and rich in vitamins" will have to be backed up by the ingredients or eliminated from packaging and marketing altogether."

Explaining the advantages of EU regulation on food labelling, Linda McAvan said;

"European standards are also good news for responsible companies. Without a common EU system, each EU country would have to devise their own labelling schemes and companies would have to comply with 25 different systems to sell their products across the European single market. Common EU standards are good news for business and consumers."

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