Shoppers want "traffic light" logos on the front of food packets to help them make healthy choices, according to research published yesterday.

Research by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) found strong support for the idea of colour coded symbols that give nutritional information at a glance.

The food industry, however, is wary of such schemes which it claims is too simplistic.

The Government is keen to develop a universal "signposting" scheme for the front of packs to help in its fight against obesity.

The scheme would help busy shoppers to decide if a product is healthy or not without having to plough through nutritional information on the back of the packet.

The FSA commissioned a study among 24 focus groups who were shown five different signposting options. Participants strongly favoured two of the options.

The first is a single traffic light in either red, amber or green indicating the product should be eaten "sparingly", "in moderation" or in "plenty", depending on the nutritional contents.

The FSA's report suggests putting a red light on sugar-coated cornflakes and an amber light on a chicken fajita wrap.

The more complicated of the two is called the multiple traffic light scheme.

It has different coloured lights indicating whether the product is "high", "medium" or "low" in either fat, salt, sugar and saturated fat.

The report uses the example of a prawn mayonnaise sandwich that would have red lights for fat and salt, amber for saturates and green for sugar.

Rosemary Hignett, head of nutrition at the FSA, said: "We are hoping that because retailers and manufacturers are behind the idea of signposting we can move towards a scheme they support."

Supermarket chains Sainsbury's, Tesco and the Co-op have already developed their own signposting schemes.

Martin Paterson, deputy director general of the Food and Drink Federation, said: "We know that the FSA is looking at a number of potential proposals.

"However, simplistic schemes which categorise products into good and bad could seriously mislead consumers."