Front-End Nutrition Labeling and Eco-Labeling Models for Public Health Promotion

Abstract

Creating food systems that provide healthy food for everyone without exploiting human or planetary resources, is one of the greatest challenges of this century. Front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency systems have been proposed as a means of addressing health disparities and sustainable food and nutrition security. The aim of the study is the exploratory analysis of existing front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency systems in order to make informed decisions about the further development of an effective labeling system. To carry out the study, the method of systematic document review and data triangulation was applied. The review provided information on the impact of color-coded labels and warnings in driving consumer purchasing behavior towards healthier products. Each labeling system had different attributes that should be taken into account when developing front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency policies, depending on local contexts. However, front-end labeling is unlikely to be a panacea for changing consumer behavior but can target small incremental changes at different levels and actors in the food system.