Consumer’s and professional’s perspectives towards a new food labeling in Israel and lessons from other OECD countries Dr. Vered Kaufman-Shriqui RD, MSc, PhD Department of Nutrition Sciences Ariel University, Israel
Unhealthy food intake • Unhealthy food intake has been shown to contribute to more than 20% of death cases globally.
Diabetes
CVD Cancer
Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2019, 393(10184):1958-1972.
EU23 countries : Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
For 1 USD invested in prevention of obesity, up to 5.6 USD will be returned in economic benefits
Front-of-pack labeling (FOPL) • Front-of-pack labeling (FOPL) is a policy tool for countries to improve the food environments in which food choices are made • WHO recommends that governments implement FOPL nutrition labels • FOPL may influence consumers to reduce the intake of fast food, ultra-processed food, and other calorie-dense foods 1.
Hawley KL, Roberto CA, Bragg MA et al. (2013) The science on front-of-package food labels. Public Health Nutr 16, 430-439.
2.
Cecchini M & Warin L (2016) Impact of food labelling systems on food choices and eating behaviours: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized studies. Obes Rev 17, 201-210.
3.
Croker H, Packer J, Russell SJ et al. (2020) Front of pack nutritional labelling schemes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of recent evidence relating to objectively measured consumption and purchasing. J Hum Nutr Diet 33, 518-537.
Food labels: influence at the point of purchase Informative vs. Judgmental
USA & Canada
OLD
https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-education-resourcesmaterials/new-nutrition-facts-label
Different Nutrition labels
UK
French and seven other European countries. The use of the Nutri-Score label is still voluntary. Two years after its launch, 250 brands are engaged in France – representing 25% of the French market.
Nutri-Score-EU?
https://nutriscore.colruytgroup.com/colruytgroup/en/about-nutri-score/
Chile
Israel
A survey among Dietitians (n=165) •
Do you believe that a marked foods?
red label will significantly reduce purchases of the Dietitians 18.3
81.7
% Yes
% No
Food purchasing habits and perspectives of dietitians on how would purchasing be influenced after labeling* 100
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Savory snacks
Sweets snacks Currently Purchased
Sweet breakfast cereals
Processed meat products
Sweet soft drinks
Sweet dairy products
Labelling will reduce consumption (dietitians)
* Data on purchasing habits are a result of a national representative sample conducted by the Israeli MOH and Mayers-Brookdale institute n=920 Data on dietitian perspectives were analyzed and collected from a convenience sample of dietitians by Ariel department of Nutrition n=239
Professional’s attitudes towards the new labeling (n=239) Question/Response
Dietitians
Others
p-value
On which category of food will a red label have the most significant impact? Cereals (%)
30.5
29.3
Dairy products (%)
11.6
9.3
Snacks and sweets (%)
28.7
34.7
Processed meat products (%)
6.1
16.0
Soft drinks and sweetened beverages (%)
23.2
10.7
81.7
70.7
Do you believe that a red label will significantly reduce purchases of the marked foods? (% responding yes)
0.03
0.06
Attitudes towards buying red labelled food
Declared they would purchase less food items with red labels
Data on purchasing habits are a result of a national representative sample conducted by the Israeli MOH and Mayers-Brookdale institute n=920
Israel- What has already happened • The new Israeli food labeling has been launched in January 2020 • Manufacturers reformulated food items to avoid red labels
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30573335/
A few more questions • Is food reformulation necessarily healthier? • How do food labeling influence children? • Should babies food regulated differently than adult food? • How does food intake change by socioeconomic status and ethnicity?
Thank You