Food Safety Concerns: Labeling in the UK and E. coli Outbreak in the US

The UK, the local Food Standards Agency is launching an advertising campaign to strengthen its efforts to label unhealthy foods and combat obesity. The FSA's goal is to color code foods such that consumers would find it easier to detect healthy foods from the unhealthy options. Food manufacturing lobbyists oppose the scheme, which is also known as "traffic light labeling."

CSR and health and safety issues in food manufacturing and distribution also made the headlines in the US this month. In Hollywood, Richard Linklater's new movie Fast Food Nation was popular (the movie is based on a non-fiction book about the US fastfood industry; see trailer below) and in the Taco Bell E. coli scandal, dozens of patrons of the popular fastfood chain fell ill after consuming E. coli contaminated produce at several of the chain's restaurants.