"Traffic light" food labels have got the thumbs down from the federal government, prompting criticism from health and consumer groups that the government has put industry interests before population health.
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Traffic light labels would give a red, amber or green rating for key ingredients such as fat, salt and sugar in food.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there was "currently not enough evidence to demonstrate [that] any form of front-of-pack labelling, including traffic light labelling ... provides Australians with the nutritional information they need to make informed choices".
Health and consumer groups rejected Ms Roxon's claim, saying the traffic lights had been recommended by the government's own Blewett review and was backed by respected research.
Michael Moore, the chief executive of the Public Health Association of Australia, said traffic light labels were a key to combating "the exponential increase in obesity" and conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
He called on state and territory ministers to put public health ahead of profits in managing food labelling.
“The federal government's response defies the experts' advice and ignores the public's appetite for better, more informative food labels,” Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said.
“Disappointingly, the federal government's announcement suggests that well-resourced industry lobbying is more important than the right of Australian consumers to make an informed choice about the food they eat every day,” Ms Just said.
The traffic light system has drawn intense opposition from the food industry, which says it is simplistic and misleading.
The decision is expected to provoke a sharp debate at next week's meeting of federal, state and territory health and food ministers, which will decide on what to recommend to the Council of Australian Governments.
But one big change the federal government proposes is for mandatory labels on alcohol, warning women of the dangers of foetal alcohol syndrome in babies caused by drinking during pregnancy. The change will be introduced within two years.
In response to the 61 recommendations for reform from the Blewett review, the government has proposed:
* Working with industry and health groups to develop a single front-of-pack label to assist shoppers in food choices.
* Improvements in standards for nutrition and health claims such as "low fat" and "high fibre" to reflect public health goals.
* Improvements to back-of-pack labelling to provide better information about added sugars, fats and vegetable oils.
