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. 2023 Nov;26(11):2607-2618.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980023001787. Epub 2023 Aug 22.

Product promotions in online supermarkets: prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and labelling characteristics

Lewis W Wallis  1 , Sally G Moore  1
Affiliations

Product promotions in online supermarkets: prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and labelling characteristics

Lewis W Wallis et al. Public Health Nutr. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) characteristics across promoted products in UK online supermarkets.

Design: A cross-sectional survey conducted (December 2021-January 2022) on promoted products. Data on ingredients, nutritional composition and display of FOPNL were collected from product webpages. The UK's Nutrient Profiling Model and Multiple Traffic Light criteria were used to determine HFSS status and possession of inherent red traffic lights (iRTL), respectively. Data analysis determined the prevalence (i.e. percentage of products of the total number of products sampled) of HFSS; FOPNL and possession of iRTL. Chi-squared tests explored associations between these.

Setting: Three major UK online supermarket retailer websites.

Participants: Product 'multibuy' and 'entrance' promotions, from selected product categories.

Results: Among the sampled 625 promoted products, the prevalence of HFSS was greater in entrance (73 %) compared with multibuy (41 %) promotions (χ2 (1) = 34, P < 0·05), with variations in the former across retailers (49-92 %). The prevalence of HFSS products in multibuy promotions offered by two retailers varied by category (i.e. Confectionery 94-97 %, Yogurts 20-20 %, Soft Drinks 16-33 %, Ready Meals 1·4-18 %). Not all promoted products displayed FOPNL on webpages (70 %) or images (52 %). A number of iRTL were found to be possessed by both HFSS and non-HFSS-promoted products.

Conclusions: Prior to the 2022 implementation of Regulations restricting these, HFSS products were promoted in online supermarkets with varying display of FOPNL and possession of iRTL. Findings support future policy evaluation and mandatory digital FOPNL.

Keywords: Digital food environments; Front-of-pack nutrition labelling; High Fat Sugar Salt; Nutrient profile; Product promotions.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An example of one supermarket website entrance (location) (left-hand side) and their multibuy (volume) (right-hand side) promotions pages
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
An individual product webpage from a supermarket website (split into two columns for illustration), with arrows indicating aspects of data collected. FOPNL, front-of-pack nutrition labelling
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Prevalence of products classified as HFSS by (a) promotional type, (b) product category (for multibuy promotions) and (c) retailer (for entrance promotions). 1The UK NPM was used to calculate scores and classify ‘HFSS’ and ‘non-HFSS’ products. HFSS, High Fat Sugar Salt; NPM, Nutrient Profiling Model
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Prevalence of displayed front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) on product webpages and product images according to promotion type (a), (b) and (c) and HFSS status (d). 1Displayed FOPNL included any label formats (i.e. traffic lights, monochrome labels, etc.) reflected in the Government guidance(13). HFSS, High Fat Sugar Salt
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Proportions of sampled products with specific numbers of inherent red traffic lights (iRTL) (red traffic light possessed by a product, irrespective of their display) according to promotion type (a) and HFSS status of promoted products (b). HFSS, High Fat Sugar Salt
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Number of inherent red traffic lights (iRTL) across products according to HFSS and non-HFSS status in multibuy promotions for (a) Yogurt, (b) Ready Meals, (c) Confectionery and (d) Soft Drinks. 1Red traffic lights were determined based on the Government guidance(13) and 2each product’s HFSS status was calculated using the Nutrient Profiling Model (UK NPM)(10). HFSS, High Fat Sugar Salt
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