An assessment of nutrition information on front of pack labels and healthiness of foods in the United Kingdom retail market

Abstract

Background Front of pack nutrition labelling is part of United Kingdom government’s programme of activities aiming to tackle diet-related diseases. There are several front of pack labelling formats available and they differ in the information they deliver. This study assessed the frequency of usage of front of pack food labelling systems on food products in the United Kingdom grocery market. It also measured the healthiness of some foods in the online market by categorising them according to their nutrient contents. Methods Five hundred food products in five categories [(1) cereals and cereal products, (2) dairy products, (3) beverages, (4) packaged meats and meat products, and (5) pre-packaged fruits and vegetables] from three main United Kingdom retail websites were investigated. A simple random sampling method was used for product selection according to the categories on the retailers’ websites. The healthiness of foods was also assessed by categorising them into ‘healthier’, ‘moderately healthy’ and ‘least healthy’ based on fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar contents. Results The total number of label types assessed comprises 19.6% of Guideline Daily Amounts or Reference Intakes and 43.8% had a combination of Traffic Light and Reference Intakes (hybrid label). Slightly over a quarter (27.4%) of products included nutritional information in a grid or table, 3.4% of the foods had two of any of the following: Health Logo, Reference Intakes and Traffic Light labels, and 5.8% did not have any Reference Intakes, Traffic Light, Health Logo or Hybrid label. Most of the foods assessed were manufactured in the United Kingdom with only 30.8% imported from 32 countries across four continents. Conclusions Traffic Light and Guideline Daily Amounts were the most used front of pack labelling formats on the assessed food product. A higher number of assessed products belonged to the “moderately healthy” and “healthier” categories than the “least healthy”. The imported foods that were found in the United Kingdom retail market showed that food choices could be made from the diverse food types.

Evidence Gaps in Assessments of the Healthiness of Online Supermarkets Highlight the Need for New Monitoring Tools: a Systematic Review

“…For each supermarket, the types of products promoted differed according to which basket of items was selected. On average, more items overall and a greater number of unhealthy products and alcohol were promoted in November/December than in March Price, promotion Ogundijo et al 2021 [ 21 ], UK Three online supermarkets, time period unspecified Data on 500 randomly selected packaged products, across five categories and three supermarkets, collected from product pages to assess healthiness of products and display of nutrition information. Relevant information captured included labelling format and nutrition, allergen and ingredient declarations.…”

“…In addition, it is evident that assessments of the overall online retail environment within a country should attempt to include as many retailers, within similar timeframes, as possible. Inconsistencies in such study design features likely underpin the wildly diverging findings on proportions of products displaying nutrition information observed across studies included in our review [14,18,21,28].…”

Factors influencing the perception and decision‐making process of consumers on the choice of healthier foods in the United Kingdom: a systematic review using narrative synthesis

“…Food labels play an important role in giving consumers informed choices in supermarkets while shopping (Duffy, 1999; Livingstone & Helsper, 2006; Barnett et al ., 2013). The use of front of pack (FoP) labelling by manufacturers and retailers is prevalent on food products in the UK retail market (Ogundijo et al ., 2021b). Food manufacturers are now using various types of labelling formats above and beyond any legal requirements to convince consumers around healthier choices.…”

“…This tool is used by consumers to avoid foods that were least healthy (predominant in red‐coloured constituents) and for assessing the nutrients in the food products during shopping (Balcombe et al ., 2010; Mantzari et al ., 2018). Nutrition labels in various formats such as the UK Traffic light system and Chilean warning labels have been identified to positively help consumers to differentiate between healthy, moderately healthy and less healthy foods (Tas et al ., 2020; Ogundijo et al ., 2021b).…”

Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Eating and Purchasing Behaviours of People Living in England

“…The study appraises the empirical findings in line with the hypothesised opinions made on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ attitudes relative to age, ethnicity, education, gender, and the employment status of people that live in England. Peer-reviewed articles and grey literature with relevant theoretical frameworks that underpin food choice, consumer behaviours, and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were used to construct a conceptual framework that gives a general overview of the study [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”