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Food reform is underway.  Red and green stickers now on food items on Israeli supermarket shelves.

Starting on 01.01.20 an a initiative to get Israelis to make healthier food choices is underway.  A new system of stickers; red and green must now be displayed on food items.  Food companies are required to flag their products with either a red or green sticker.  Green stickers for healthier items and red stickers on less healthy products.

The stickers will serve to inform and warn the public of food items that contain high levels of sugar, saturated fat and sodium.  Products containing high levels of these (according to the Israel Ministry of Health's guidelines) will be flagged with a red sticker.

The green stickers will mark nutritionally recommended products by the Ministry of Health - those deemed to be healthier.

The goal of the food marking is to help the citizens of Israel make better food choices, develop good nutritional habits, maintain a healthy diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and morbidity.

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In the second stage of this reform, restaurants will also be required to flag their menu items in the same way.

Filling up your trolley with only green items is not the ultimate goal - you need to be aware.  Tehini for example, a healthy food according to nutritionists, will be labeled with a red sticker as it has high levels of sodium.

Don't worry if you are color blind, in addition to the red or green sticker, items will also be labeled (in Hebrew) accordingly - high in sodium, low in fat etc.

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