BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European parliament defeated a proposal last week that would have required color-coded warnings on food labels, the Financial Times reports.

Consumer groups had pushed for a "traffic light system" of labels as a way to inform Europe's increasingly obese consumers about the nutritional value of foods.

The proposed system ?" a version of which is currently used in the U.K. ?" would have required food companies to label the front of their packages with red, yellow, or green icons to denote the amount of fat, salt, and sugar that they contain.

European food manufacturers strongly opposed the plan, maintaining that it would have hindered their competitiveness and "demonize" certain foods that are otherwise healthful, such as cheese. Instead, they offered a system where nutritional information would remain on the back of packages.

The parliament's environment committee sided with the food companies, a move that BEUC, Europe's largest consumer organization, called a "severe blow" for public health.

"When we clearly have an obesity epidemic spreading across Europe, and when consumers clearly want to make healthier choices about their diet, we really should give them the tools that work best," said Monique Goyens, BEUC??s director-general.