Nutritional branding a boost to eating

Households eat more healthily when retailers display clear nutritional informationonown-brand food products, researchers have said.

Their study is the first to evaluate the impact of front-of-pack nutritional labelling on retailers’ store-branded products, which was first introduced back in 2006.

The results find a reduction in the quantity of labelled store-branded food purchased such as ready meals, pizzas and burgers. There was also an overall improvement in the nutritional composition of consumers’ shopping baskets where labelling was displayed.

The researchers said these improvements in food shopping habits were most prominently observed across poorer households.

In 2006, the UK Food Standards Agency recommended retailers introduce front-of-pack labelling on their store-brand products for ready meals, burgers and sausages, pies, breaded or coated meats, pizzas, sandwiches and cereal.

Several retailers, including Waitrose, Co-op, Marks & Spencer and Asda, introduced either a traffic-light system or a hybrid system. Hybrid labelling was found to be most effective at shifting choices, according to the study.