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Felicity Lawrence
Thursday December 28, 2006
The Guardian
1. Consumers are to be presented with two rival new year advertising
campaigns as the Food Standards Agency goes public in its battle with the
industry over the labelling of unhealthy foods.
2. The Guardian has learned that the FSA will launch a series of 10-second
television adverts in January telling shoppers how to follow a red, amber and
green traffic light labelling system on the front of food packs, which is
designed to tackle Britain’s obesity epidemic.
3. The campaign is a direct response to a concerted attempt by leading food
manufacturers and retailers, including Kellogg’s and Tesco, to derail the
system. The industry fears that traffic lights would demonise entire categories
of foods and could seriously damage the market for those that are fatty, salty
or high in sugar.
4. The UK market for breakfast cereals is worth ￡1.27bn a year and the
manufacturers fear it will be severely dented if red light labels are put on
packaging drawing attention to the fact that the majority are high in salt
and/or sugar.
5. The industry is planning a major marketing campaign for a competing
labelling system which avoids colour-coding in favour of information about the
percentage of "guideline daily amounts" (GDAs) of fat, salt and sugar contained
in their products.
6. The battle for the nation’s diet comes as new rules on television
advertising come into force in January which will bar adverts for unhealthy
foods from commercial breaks during programmes aimed at children. Sources at the
TV regulators are braced for a legal challenge from the industry and have
described the lobbying efforts to block any new ad ban or colour-coded labelling
as "the most ferocious we’ve ever experienced".
7. Ofcom’s chief executive, Ed Richards, said: "We are prepared to face up to
any legal action from the industry, but we very much hope it will not be
necessary." The FSA said it was expecting an onslaught from the industry in
January. Senior FSA officials said the manufacturers’ efforts to undermine its
proposals on labelling could threaten the agency’s credibility.
8. Terrence Collis, FSA director of communications, dismissed claims that the
proposals were not based on science. "We have some of the most respected
scientists in Europe, both within the FSA and in our independent advisory
committees. It is unjustified and nonsensical to attack the FSA’s scientific
reputation and to try to undermine its credibility."
9. The FSA is understood to have briefed its ad agency, United, before
Christmas, and will aim to air ads that are "non-confrontational, humorous and
factual" as a counterweight to industry’s efforts about the same time. The
agency, however, will have a tiny fraction of the budget available to the
industry.
10. Gavin Neath, chairman of Unilever UK and president of the Food and Drink
Federation, has said that the industry has made enormous progress but could not
accept red "stop" signs on its food.
11. Alastair Sykes, chief executive of Nestlé UK, said that under the FSA
proposals all his company’s confectionery and most of its cereals would score a
red. "Are we saying people shouldn’t eat confectionery? We’re driven by
consumers and what they want, and much of what we do has been to make our
products healthier," he said.
12. Chris Wermann, director of communications at Kellogg’s, said: "In
principle we could never accept traffic light labelling."
13. The rival labelling scheme introduced by Kellogg’s, Danone, Unilever,
Nestlé, Kraft and Tesco and now favoured by 21 manufacturers, uses an
industry-devised system based on identifying GDAs of key nutrients. Tesco says
it has tested both traffic lights and GDA labels in its stores and that the
latter increased sales of healthier foods.
14. But the FSA said it could not live with this GDA system alone because it
was "not scientific" or easy for shoppers to understand at a glance.
Questions 1-6
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each answer.
1. When will instructions be given on reading the color-coded labels?
2. Where can customers find the red light labels?
3. What problem is the FSA trying to handle with the labeling system?
4. Which product sells well but may not be healthy?
5. What information, according to the manufacturers, can be labeled on
products?
6. What can not be advertised during children’s programmes?
Questions 7-13
Use the information in the text to match the people (listed A-E) with the
opinions (listed 7-13) below. Write the appropriate letter (A-E) for questions
1-7.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
A Ed Richard
B Terrence Collis
C Gavin Neath
D Alastair Sykes
E Chris Wermann
7. Generally we will not agree to use the red light labels.
8. It is unreasonable to doubt if FSA is trustworthy.
9. We are trying to meet our consumers’ needs.
10. The food industry has been improving greatly.
11. The color-coded labeling system is scientific.
12. Our products will be labeled unhealthy by the FSA.
13. We are ready to confront the manufacturers.
In the earliest stages of man's development he had nomore need of money than animals have.He was content with very simple forms of shelter,made his own rough tools and weapons and could provide food and clothing for himself and his family from natural materials around him.As he became more civilized,however,he began to want better shelter,more efficient tools and weapons,and more comfortable and more lasting clothing than could be provided by his own neighborhood or by the work of his own unskilled hands.For these things he had to turn to the skilled people such as smiths,leather workers or carpenters.It was then that the question of payment arose.
At first he got what he wanted by a simple process ofexchange.The smith who had not the time to look after land or cattle was glad to take meat or grain from the farmer inexchange for an axe or a plough.But as more and more goods which had no fixed exchange value came on the market,exchange became too complicated to be satisfactory.Another problem arose when those who made things wanted to get stocks of wood or leather,or iron,but had nothing to offer in exchange until their finished goods were ready. Thus the difficulties of exchange led by degrees to the invention of money.In some countries easily handled things like seeds or shells were given a certain value and the farmer,instead of paying the smith for a new axe by giving him some meat or grain,gave him so many shells.If the smith had any shells left when he had bought his food,he could get stocks of the raw materials of his trade.In some countries quite large things such as cows or camels or even big flat stones were used for trade.Later,pieces of metal,bearing values according to the rarity of the metal and the size of the pieces,or coins were used.Money as we know it had arrived.
1.Exchange of goods became difficult because _________.
A man became more civilized
B smiths began to look after land or cattle in their spare time
C more and more goods which had no fixed exchange alues came to the
marker
D farmers hadn't enough grain or meat to provide for
skilled workers
2.Money was not used until _______.
A paper was invented
B people practiced a simple process of exchange
C nothing could be offered in exchangeD the exchange of one thing for another became too complicated
3.The best title for this passage is _____.
A What is money
B What are money's functions.
C The importance of money
D The beginning of money
