Sammendrag
This thesis investigates the Keyhole-labeling scheme initiated by the Norwegian Government as a political strategy in order to improve public health and encourage the food industry to focus on product development. The Keyhole label is part of the Government`s diet plan and functions as a guide to help consumers choose the best possible product in a food category. The scheme is voluntary and not set by law, but the industry is responsible of following the set of regulations and criteria decided by the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Considering the many different advice on diets in today`s society, knowledge transfer become challenging. Through looking at how scientific knowledge is framed, i.e. incorporated in the script of political strategies, I aim to investigate the Keyhole labeling scheme as a political tool of scientific governance, and study how the relationship between experts and lay people may lead to overflows. How can a state govern in situations where the public is free to govern itself and the food industry is free to make its own decisions in the name of the Government? Who are the public and how do they affect the decision making process? This is a single case study of the Keyhole labeling scheme, where the research consists of a qualitative document analysis with an open-ended and exploratory design. As this study will show, the de-scription of the scheme illustrates a gap between the projected world and the real world of the scheme. This is partly because it is a controversy that has created a hot situation were hybrid forums and public participation influence the reality of the scheme. The conclusion is that the public has not received the scheme in the positive manner as the Government projected, and the suggestion is that this is a cause of poorly conducted knowledge transfer.