TITLE:
Informing Food Consumption Choices: Innovations in Measuring and Labelling
AUTHORS:
Marie-Chantale Pelletier, Caroline A. Sullivan, P. J. Wilson, Gary Webb, Garry Egger
KEYWORDS:
Food Categories, Food Labelling, NuVal, Nutrition, Carbon Labelling
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.7 No.12,
October
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: The need to inform consumers about the health impact of their food choices is ever
more pressing in a world where obesity is a growing problem. Concerns over food
safety, its origins and its environmental impacts are also growing, as frequently reported
in the popular press in many parts of the world. Nutritional and health information
on food labels is quite well developed, but the complex nature of the information
presented may hinder widespread use of the existing labels. In comparison,
there has been little widespread success of carbon labels on food, and their usefulness
in reducing carbon emissions from consumption is uncertain. In an attempt
to address the need for clearer information on health and environmental impacts of
food purchases, we present a novel dual-purpose food labelling system which provides
information on both health and environmental impacts of food items. This paper
presents results from a pilot study introducing a novel approach to food labelling:
a simplified, combined carbon and health label to inform consumers simultaneously
about the environmental and health impacts of their choices. Environmental
impacts of various food categories were calculated on the basis of their relative energy
use along the supply chain by using a newly designed Food Energy Index. Health
impacts were based on the NuVal system developed in the USA in 2010. As part of
the Norfolk Island Carbon and Health Evaluation study (NICHE), labels were designed,
tested and displayed on 25 food categories for a 3-month period in the main
supermarket on Norfolk Island (Australia). The in-store labelling trial was followed
by a consumer survey on their attitudes to the labels. The results from this pilot trial
indicate that consumers were supportive of food labelling including both environmental
and health impacts, but the information provided in the dual labels was not
sufficient to induce changes in consumption between food categories. We conclude
that simple label design is clearly essential, and our findings warrant further investigation,
including a broader study using a larger population and a wider range of food categories.