Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33109282›Full record

ArticlePublic health nutrition2021

Are food and drink available in online and physical supermarkets the same? A comparison of product availability, price, price promotions and nutritional information.

Prachi Bhatnagar, Peter Scarborough, Asha Kaur, Derya Dikmen, Vyas Adhikari, Richard Harrington

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Current food labelling practices in online supermarkets in Australia.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. The nature of food promotions over one year in circulars from leading Belgian supermarket chains.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Prachi BhatnagarCentre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, OX3 7LFOxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5231-9625
Peter ScarboroughCentre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, OX3 7LFOxford, UK.
Asha KaurCentre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, OX3 7LFOxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0617-2287
Derya DikmenNutrition and Dietetics, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Vyas AdhikariCentre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, OX3 7LFOxford, UK.
Richard HarringtonCentre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, OX3 7LFOxford, UK.

Funding

British Heart Foundation FS/15/34/31656Department of Health 16/130/01Department of Health IS-BRC-1215-20008Medical Research Council MR/R015465/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveOnline supermarkets are increasingly used both by consumers and as a source of data on the food environment. We compared product availability, nutritional information, front-of-pack (FOP) labelling, price and price promotions for food and drink products between physical and online supermarkets.

designFor physical stores, we collected data on price, price promotions, FOP nutrition labels and nutrition information from a random sample of food and drinks from six UK supermarkets. For online stores, we used foodDB, a research-ready dataset of over 14 million observations of food and drink products available in online supermarkets.

settingSix large supermarket stores located near Oxford, UK.

participantsGeneral sample with 295 food and drink products, plus boost samples for both fruit and vegetables, and alcohol.

resultsIn the general sample, 85 % (95 % CI 80, 90 %) of products found in physical stores could be matched with an online product. Nutritional information found in the two settings was almost identical, for example, concordance correlation coefficient for energy = 0·995 (95 % CI 0·993, 0·996). The presence of FOP labelling and price promotions differed between the two settings (Cohen's kappa = 0·56 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·66) and 0·40 (95 % CI 0·26, 0·55), respectively). Prices were similar between online and physical supermarkets (concordance correlation coefficient > 0·9 for all samples).

conclusionsProduct availability, nutritional information and prices sourced online for these six retailers are good proxies of those found in physical stores. Price promotions and FOP labelling vary between the two settings. Further research should investigate whether this could impact on health inequalities.

Indexed as

CommerceFood MarketsFood LabelingFood SupplyHumansVegetablesDietFront-of-pack labellingNutritionOnline supermarketsPricePromotion

Identifiers

PMID33109282
PMCPMC7610557

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Registered trials

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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.