My father gave up the dairy farming due to that and the EU limits imposed at the time, meaning we either poured the milk down the drain or as in our case gave it away free to the locals. Unfortunately the then 50 Jersey cows didnt understand the predicament most dairy farmers were in then and today even worse off
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Sorry to hear about your Dad. I knew several Dairy Farmers in similar situations…
Many of the big Supermarkets sold milk cheaply as a “lost leader” to tempt folk into their shops (where folk would then spend on other things, of course)… but it was not the Supermarkets being generous to their customers.
Those “big boys” refused to pay the going-rate (viable rate) for Milk Processing… instead the "big boys dictated what price they were prepared to pay. Never mind that it was less than the cost of processing the milk… never mind that the UK Dairy Processors then had to put the screws on the Dairy Farmers…
Farmers and Processors went out of business… ghastly time.
(I’ll stop my rant now)
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Donald Trump will solve your label-checking worries, Helen, he’ll do away with all regulatory labelling via his arse-licker BloJo. 
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Peter you could be right in your statement. Unfortunately there is too much OTT regulatory crap to the extent that for the normal Joe in the street, it becomes almost impossible to deter which sticker is fact or fiction. There is no EU wide unity when it comes to the marking of food, at least in the medical industry, there are steps afoot to deal with the matter and from may 2020 there will be unity throughout the EU (and also the UK) for at least medical devices.
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I agree Roger that, for some and maybe for many, the food labelling information is hard to make sense of, but I think it’s better than no information at all.
There is a widespread public health problem with obesity, especially amongst children, and solutions are available but politically unacceptable.
I’m thinking very high levels of sugar tax, and the prohibition of the use of high levels of sugars in all processed foodstuffs and drinks. Or sugar rationing: 150g per adult per week, and half that amount for kids would seem to me to be about right. 
I would also support the rationing of sweets and chocolates as occured during and, for a while after, WW2. Confectionery is best appreciated as an occasional luxury, and should be priced as such IMO.
I fully agree, the problem is only going to get worse. High or higher sugar tax doesnt cut the cake, those that are obese, and i know some are medical influenced, but most are due to a lack of discipline and self discipline, laziness, etc. They will still continue to “fress” themselves through the takeaways and McDucks etc coupled with the nights in the pubs. A large lack of sport and movement to name other reasons. for me, when it comes to health, political unacceptability doesnt come into it. But then i am a heathen.
I quite like heathens. 
And some are due to depression, low income, no future prospects, lack of cooking facilities (have you ever been in a hostel, or cheap rental properties?) low of knowledge about nutrition and second or third generation unemployed. And when you can feed yourself for £1.99 with a McDonalds it’s no wonder that that is the default option.
There have been endless programmes about middle class people trying to live on a minimum wage, and realising it’s bloody difficult!