ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2015
Reds are more important than greens: how UK supermarket shoppers use the different information on a traffic light nutrition label in a choice experiment.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed.
- Does the range of ecolabels on offer alter their impact on meal selection? An online randomised control trial.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- The efficacy of 'high in' warning labels, health star and traffic light front-of-package labelling: an online randomised control trial.Public health nutrition · 2021Trial
- A randomized controlled trial examining consumers' perceptions and opinions on using different versions of a FoodFlip© smartphone application for delivery of nutrition information.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Trial
- Color and shape matter: how visual design features of front-of-package warning labels influence attractiveness perception, healthfulness perception and purchase intention.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2026Article
- Food Label Readability and Consumption Frequency: Isolating Content-Specific Effects via a Non-Equivalent Dependent Variable Design.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Which front-of-pack nutritional label (FOPNL) is most effective in promoting healthier dietary choices? An experimental study in Indonesia.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Directive vs. Reductive Front-of-Pack Labels: Differences in Italian Consumers' Responses to the Nutri-Score and the NutrInform Battery.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The UK Food Environment: A Systematic Review of Domains, Methodologies, and Outcomes.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Nutritional content and healthiness in sweet and salty snacks and beverages popular in South Korea and the United States assessed by nutrition labels: a cross-sectional comparative study.Korean journal of community nutrition · 2024Article
- Nutrients or processing? An analysis of food and drink items from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey based on nutrient content, the NOVA classification and front of package traffic light labelling.The British journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- Product promotions in online supermarkets: prevalence of 'High Fat Sugar Salt' (HFSS) products and labelling characteristics.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- A food bank program to help food pantries improve healthy food choices: mixed methods evaluation of The Greater Boston Food Bank's Healthy Pantry Program.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The Impact of Nutrition Labelling on Customer Buying Intention and Behaviours in Fast Food Operations: Some Implications for Public Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- "Part of the Solution": Food Corporation Strategies for Regulatory Capture and Legitimacy.International journal of health policy and management · 2021Review
- Article
- Review
- Assessing Consumer Preferences for Suboptimal Food: Application of a Choice Experiment in Citrus Fruit Retail.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Analysing Credibility of UK Social Media Influencers' Weight-Management Blogs: A Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Evaluation of the Accurateness of the Nutritional Labels of Processed and Ultra-Processed Products Available in Supermarkets of Ecuador.Nutrients · 2020Article
- Improving Nutrition Information in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Implementation of Front-Of-Pack Nutrition Labelling.Nutrients · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundColour coded front-of-pack nutrition labelling ('traffic light labelling') has been recommended for use in the UK since 2006. The voluntary scheme is used by all the major retailers and some manufacturers. It is not clear how consumers use these labels to make a single decision about the relative healthiness of foods. Our research questions were: Which of the four nutrients on UK traffic light labels (total fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt) has the most influence on decisions? Do green lights or red lights have a greater influence? Are there age and gender differences in how people use the colour and nutrient information?
methodsWe recruited participants from a UK supermarket chain membership list to conduct an online choice experiment in May 2014. We analysed data using multilevel logisitic models with food choices (n = 3321) nested in individuals (n = 187) as the unit of analysis.
resultsA food with more reds was 11.4 (95% confidence intervals: 10.3, 12.5) times less likely to be chosen as healthy, whereas a food with more greens was 6.1 (5.6, 6.6) times more likely to be chosen as healthy. Foods with better colours on saturated fat and salt were 7.3 (6.7, 8.0) and 7.1 (6.5, 7.8) times more likely to be chosen as healthy - significantly greater than for total fat (odds ratio 4.8 (4.4, 5.3)) and sugar (5.2 (4.7, 5.6)). Results were broadly similar for different genders and age groups.
conclusionsWe found that participants were more concerned with avoiding reds than choosing greens, and that saturated fat and salt had a greater influence on decisions regarding healthiness than total fat and sugar. This could influence decisions about food reformulation and guidance on using nutrition labelling.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.