FLICC: Front of pack food labelling: impact on consumer choice

Summary

The project examines the impact on food purchasing decisions of front of pack (FOP) labelling schemes commonly used in the UK. It defines FOP labelling as any scheme which highlights the levels of nutrients within a food in an ‘at a glance’ format on the front of the pack, such as traffic light labelling, GDA's or ‘healthy choice’ logos. This definition does not include nutrition claims (e.g. ‘low in sugar’) or health claims (e.g. ‘good for your heart’).

This research has two objectives:

  • to understand how consumers currently use FOP labelling when purchasing foods;
  • to test the effectiveness of two interventions aimed at amplifying the influence of FOP labelling.  The first intervention provides tailored feedback to consumers, encouraging purchase of healthier foods, the second is a web-based education programme.

The aims of this proposed project are to achieve objective 1, and then complete a pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) which will establish the feasibility of a larger RCT to definitively test the two interventions outlined in objective.

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