If the growing burden of obesity-driven type 2 diabetes is to be stabilized or reduced, the general public must receive adequate information about healthy eating. However, non-compliance with nutrition advice continues to hamper diabetes care. When it is available, this advice is traditionally given in standardized 24-hour menus as a list of ‘don’ts’. People are asked to keep a running count of the carbohydrates or calories they consume throughout the day. It is therefore not surprising that nutrition advice is perceived by many as being difficult to follow; recommendations are often implemented for only a few weeks at a time, if at all. Kavita Kapur and Anil Kapur report on a new educational tool that supports people in making their own informed food choices: the ‘Signal System’.