Does labelling of healthy foods on menus using symbols promote better choices at the point-of-purchase?

OBJECTIVE

Take-away foods account for a significant proportion of dietary intake among young adults (18-35 years). Young adults want nutrition information at the point-of-purchase (POP); however, it is either unavailable, perceived as ineffective or difficult to use. The present study examined whether symbols on university food outlet menus identifying healthier options would increase their sales and consumer's awareness of these symbols, purchasing factors and barriers to eating healthy foods.

DESIGN

Repeated-measures, comparison group, quasi-experimental study.

SETTING

Two carefully matched university food outlets were analysed to determine the targeted items. Tick symbols ✓ were placed next to the targeted items in the experimental outlet. No changes were made at the comparison outlet. Customers were surveyed at the experimental outlet. Food sales were collected for 4 weeks from both outlets at baseline and during the intervention. Food sales were also collected from the experimental outlet 10 weeks later.

PARTICIPANTS

Food outlet patrons.

RESULTS

Significant increases in food sales were observed during observation 3 compared with observation 1 (P = 0·0004) and observation 2 (P = 0·0002). Sixty-eight per cent of respondents noticed the symbols, and of that, 30 % reported being influenced. Taste was the most common purchasing factor, and people were less likely to select taste as a factor if they were influenced by the symbols (P = 0·04).

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying healthier options with a symbol at the POP increased sales over time. Several purchasing factors (price, taste and healthy food availability) need to be addressed to improve the food selection of young adults.