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UK food manufacturer responses to voluntary front of package nutrition schemes
D.J. Van Camp
代写英国论文Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics,
The Ohio State Univeristy, Columbus, Ohio USA
N.H. Hooker
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics,
The Ohio State Univeristy, Columbus, Ohio USA
D.M. Souza Monteiro
Kent Business School,
University of Kent, Kent, UK
Abstract
After a period of consultation and research, the United Kingdom (UK) Food Standards Agency (FSA) introduced a voluntary, colour-based front of package (FOP) labelling program called traffic light system (TLS) in March of 2006. The goal of this program is to promote accessible nutrition information that will facilitate consumer food decisions and thus encourage healthier diets. Several studies have been conducted to measure consumer response to front of package labelling schemes. However, the existing literature does not address how food manufacturers and retailers are responding to voluntary labelling systems or to the ongoing debate over potential mandatory nutrition labelling requirements across the European Union (EU). A food innovation database (Global New Products Database) was used to track all food products released in the UK from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2008. Meal, bakery and breakfast cereal products were further classified into two groups, according to the targeted foods categories defined by the Food Standard Agency (FSA). Analysis consists of descriptive statistics on product innovation-level compilation, as well as cross tabulations of factors such as product category, type of FOP scheme, firm, and year. Research revealed that private label brands dominate food innovations in the UK. The use of FOP labels is selective among firms and across food categories. Guideline daily allowance (GDA) labelling is more widely adopted than the traffic light labelling system (TLS) in the UK. Both systems have been more broadly adopted in target food categories when compared to general (non-target) foods. Future research efforts should focus on tools which expand FOP to additional food categories which are significant in the average UK diet and firm incentives to increase FOP adoption.
Keywords- Food innovation, front of package (FOP) labels, traffic light system (TLS) labels, guideline daily amount (GDA) labels, nutrition icons
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Introduction
Nutrition labelling practices for packaged food products sold in the UK are influenced by international regulations, directives, and decisions from the European Commission (EC), as well as domestic policies shaped by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Both governmental organizations have pushed for improved nutritional labelling in light of an increasing body of scientific evidence linking poor diet with a host of health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity (Curry Report, 2002; EC, 2005). Ongoing research and policy debates within the EU and the UK are seeking to understand ways in which front of package (FOP) nutritional labelling can best be used to promote healthier diet choices among consumers and to influence food manufacturers to formulate healthier products (Cabinet Report, 2008; EC, 2007).
In January 2008, the European Commission adopted a proposal to standardize and improve food labelling by combining and revising Council Directive 90/496/EEC and Directive 2000/13/EC. Member States are currently re本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。