The way in which consumers can identify whether the food that they are purchasing is healthy or not, will be changing soon in the UK. Food manufacturers will be introducing a traffic light system that will clearly indicate to the consumer how much salt, fat, and sugar is contained in the item. Food campaigners and medical experts in the UK have been arguing that this type of labeling should have been introduced years ago.

The specific fat, sugar, and salt content has been clearly indicated on food items for many years, and it is unclear if the "traffic light" scheme will indeed change consumers habits. Currently not all manufacturers or retailers have signed up for the scheme and some, such as the Co-op, did use the scheme but now use a hybrid. The labeling may allow consumers to make more informed choices about what's going in their shopping cart, or they may continue to purchase what is best for their wallet.

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The Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University has issued its "2013 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card" which grades the nation's states as to their standing on a number of aspects of the economy. For New York, the reading was not great. It received a failing grade in both its manufacturing sector and its overall tax climate. It scored a little higher, with a C grade, in Logistics, and slightly worse in Human Capital, with a C minus.

In Manufacturing, only two other continental US states shared the F grade; Nevada and New Mexico. At the other end of the scale, a number of states achieved an A grade in manufacturing including Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Five states achieved an A grade in Logistics; Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a "local emphasis program" in Idaho aimed at reducing the number of forklift trucks injuries. OSHA is conducting random inspections at sawmills, food-processing and distribution facilities, warehouses, and garden centers. Idaho was selected as between 2006 and 2010, the OSHA office in Boise, ID conducted five fatality investigations where employees were crushed by or struck by forklifts. The office cited 142 violations of the Powered Industrial Truck standard during that same time frame; 93 of those violations were considered serious.

There were a number of common violations reported. These included -

• Not providing appropriate operator training.
• Failure to conduct regular inspections prior to operation.
• Defective equipment not taken out of service until repaired.
• Elevating workers in an unsafe manner.
• Failure to provide or ensure use of seat belts.

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Next month a new purchasing organization will be launched. The Sustainable Purchasing Council (SPC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and recognize purchasing leadership that accelerates the transition to a prosperous and sustainable future. The council will help members to leverage their purchasing dollars to drive social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

There is a will be an informational webcast on July 23, which you can sign up for on the SPC's website. At that meeting, the SPC governance structure will be decided as well prioritizing the goals for the next two years. After the launch there will be a founding summit where four goals have been proposed.

• Build consensus around the mission and vision of the SPC
• Finalize the governance of the SPC
• Finalize the 2013-2014 Work Plan
• Formalize the Sustainable Purchasing Council's Principles

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