The Food Standards Agency tested four different labelling schemes with 2,600 people in order to reveal what one best helped them to understand the levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in food.
Of the two schemes that performed well the FSA recommended the "multiple traffic light" scheme, with either a green (low levels), amber or red mark for each type of nutrient.
The other scheme, known as colour guideline daily amount, copied the traffic light scheme and expanded it with amount-per-serving and guideline daily amount information.
However, the FSA did not favour this scheme because a third of respondents from lower socio-economic and minority ethnic groups were unable to use it to identify whether a food had high, medium or low levels of nutrients.
It will now run a 12-week consultation period asking the industry what scheme it prefers.
Responding to the research, Which?, formerly the Consumers Association, said it should be adopted across the food industry.
Sue Davis, chief policy adviser for Which?, said: "Individual companies should stop developing their own signposting schemes, which will only create more confusion for shoppers wanting to compare healthy options."
Tesco responded that it had trialled the multiple traffic light system but found that it confused consumers, so it then introduced a more detailed label in April.
"In our trials, more people changed their behaviour using signposts with guideline daily amounts rather than with multiple traffic lights," a spokeswoman said.
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