A Red Light for Food Labels

A senior thesis project involving the labeling of foods based on nutritional value came under fire recently as members of the Eating Concerns Hotline and Outreach (ECHO) program voiced concerns about its effects on those suffering or recovering from eating disorders. The so-called “traffic light” system—foods are designated as red, yellow, or green on the basis of healthfulness—had previously been tested at Massachusetts General Hospital, where sales of red-label items decreased by 20% and sales of green-labeled items increased by 12% over a period of two years.

At Harvard, a similar behavioral economics-inspired program has been put into practice in the Mather and Dunster House dining halls with the aim of understanding how students’ eating habits will be affected. Labels have been affixed to everything from prepared foods to soft drink machines, accompanied by explanatory charts containing information designed to help students achieve balanced diets by eating a certain amount of food in each color group.

Efforts to increase awareness of the nutritional value of food at Harvard are certainly worthwhile and should be expanded. There is currently a paucity of detailed nutritional information displayed in the dining halls, forcing students to plan their meals online in order to access even basic information about calories, fat content, and nutrients. Harvard's dining halls could benefit from the health-minded innovation behind the current trial program.

That said, the traffic light system seems overly simplistic. Colored dots do little more than label certain foods as “good” or “bad” while failing to capture the nuances of a healthy diet. While the program does acknowledge the need to consume a blend of red, yellow, and green foods, there is more to nutrition than simply consuming unhealthy foods in moderation. Certain green-label foods are better than others from the standpoint of nutrition, and many red-label foods could be seen as a parts of a healthy diet. Simply put, traffic lights do not allow students to fully comprehend how to best nourish their bodies and minds and could distract from other important aspects of healthy eating. As members of ECHO and others have suggested, that bluntness may exact a particularly heavy toll on students with, or recovering from, eating concerns.

A better solution would be to display an abridged nutrition facts graphic alongside each food, accompanied by charts explaining basic nutritional information such as the calorie needs of different individuals and the essential nutrients that should be present in a healthy diet. A simple yet more informative system would better help students plan their meal decisions as well as understand the nutrition science behind them.