Alignment of Supermarket Own Brand Foods’ Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling with Measures of Nutritional Quality: An Australian Perspective
Claire Elizabeth Pulker 1,*
, Georgina S. A. Trapp 2,3, Jane Anne Scott 1 and Christina Mary Pollard 1,4
, Georgina S. A. Trapp 2,3, Jane Anne Scott 1 and Christina Mary Pollard 1,4
1
School of Public Health, Curtin University, Kent Street, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia
2
Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, P.O. Box 855, West Perth 6872, Western Australia, Australia
3
School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia
4
East Metropolitan Health Service, Kirkman House, 20 Murray Street, East Perth 6004, Western Australia, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2018, 10(10), 1465; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101465
Received: 12 September 2018 / Revised: 1 October 2018 / Accepted: 4 October 2018 / Published: 9 October 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Front-of-Pack Nutrition Label and Public Health)
Abstract
Two voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOPNL) are present in Australia: the government-led Health Star Ratings (HSR) and food industry-led Daily Intake Guide (DIG). Australia’s two largest supermarkets are key supporters of HSR, pledging uptake on all supermarket own brand foods (SOBF). This study aimed to examine prevalence of FOPNL on SOBF, and alignment with patterns of nutritional quality. Photographic audits of all SOBF present in three large supermarkets were conducted in Perth, Western Australia, in 2017. Foods were classified as nutritious or nutrient-poor based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGTHE), NOVA level of food processing, and HSR score. Most (81.5%) SOBF featured FOPNL, with only 55.1% displaying HSR. HSR was present on 69.2% of Coles, 54.0% of Woolworths, and none of IGA SOBF. Half (51.3%) of SOBF were classified as nutritious using the AGTHE, but using NOVA, 56.9% were ultra-processed foods. Nutrient-poor and ultra-processed SOBF were more likely than nutritious foods to include HSR, yet many of these foods achieved HSR scores of 2.5 stars or above, implying they were a healthy choice. Supermarkets have a powerful position in the Australian food system, and they could do more to support healthy food selection through responsible FOPNL. View Full-TextKeywords:
Health Star Rating; Daily Intake Guide; front-of-pack label; supermarket; supermarket own brand; private label; nutrition
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Pulker, C.E.; Trapp, G.S.A.; Scott, J.A.; Pollard, C.M. Alignment of Supermarket Own Brand Foods’ Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labelling with Measures of Nutritional Quality: An Australian Perspective. Nutrients 2018, 10, 1465.
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