The effects of nudging and pricing strategies on the availability and purchases of ultra-processed foods: A secondary analysis of the Supreme Nudge trial.

Regular consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. UPF are widely available in supermarkets. Nudging and pricing strategies are promising strategies to promote healthier supermarket purchases and may reduce UPF purchases. We investigated whether supermarket nudging and pricing strategies targeting healthy foods, but not specifically discouraging UPF, would change UPF availability, price, promotion and placement (UPF-APPP) in supermarkets and customer UPF purchases. We used data from the Supreme Nudge parallel cluster-randomized controlled trial, testing the effect of a combined nudging and pricing intervention promoting healthy products. The Dutch Consumer Food Environment Score (D-CFES) was used to audit 12 participating supermarkets in terms of UPF-APPP. We used customer loyalty card data of the first twelve intervention weeks from 321 participants to calculate the proportion of UPF purchases. Descriptive statistics were used to assess differences in D-CFES between supermarkets. Mixed model analyses were used to assess the association between the D-CFES and UPF purchases and the effect of the intervention on UPF purchases. No difference in the D-CFES between intervention and control supermarkets were found. No statistically significant association between the D-CFES and UPF purchases (ß = -0.00, 95%CI: -0.02, 0.01) and no significant effect of the intervention on UPF purchases (ß = 0.02, 95%CI: -0.07, 0.12) was observed. Given the significant proportion of unhealthy and UPF products in Dutch supermarkets, nudging and pricing strategies aimed at promoting healthy food purchases are not sufficient for reducing UPF-APPP nor purchases, and nationwide regulation may be needed.Trial registration number: Dutch Trial Register ID NL7064, May 30, 2018, https://trialsearch.who.int/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=NTR7302.

The effect of on-shelf sugar labeling on beverage sales in the supermarket: a comparative interrupted time series analysis of a natural experiment.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition labels show potential in increasing healthy food and beverage purchases, but their effectiveness seems to depend on the type of label, the targeted food category and the setting, and evidence on their impact in real-world settings is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an industry-designed on-shelf sugar label on the sales of beverages with no, low, medium and high sugar content implemented within a real-world supermarket. METHODS: In week 17 of 2019, on-shelf sugar labels were implemented by a Dutch supermarket chain. Non-alcoholic beverages were classified using a traffic-light labeling system and included the beverage categories "green" for sugar free (< 1.25 g/250 ml), "blue" for low sugar (1.25-6.24 g/250 ml), "yellow" for medium sugar (6.25-13.5 g/250 ml) and "amber" for high sugar (> 13.5 g/250 ml). Store-level data on beverage sales and revenue from 41 randomly selected supermarkets for 13 weeks pre-implementation and 21 weeks post-implementation were used for analysis. In total, 30 stores implemented the on-shelf sugar labels by week 17, and the 11 stores that had not were used as comparisons. Outcome measures were differences in the number of beverages sold in the four label categories and the total revenue from beverage sales in implementation stores relative to comparison stores. Analyses were conducted using a multiple-group Interrupted Time Series Approach. Results of individual store data were combined using random effect meta-analyses. RESULTS: At the end of the intervention period, the changes in sales of beverages with green (B 3.4, 95%CI -0.3; 7.0), blue (B 0.0, 95%CI -0.6; 0.7), yellow (B 1.3, 95%CI -0.9; 3.5), and amber (B 0.9, 95%CI -5.5; 7.3) labels were not significantly different between intervention and comparison stores. The changes in total revenues for beverages at the end of the intervention period were also not significantly different between intervention and comparison stores. CONCLUSION: The implementation of an on-shelf sugar labeling system did not significantly decrease unhealthy beverage sales or significantly increase healthier beverage sales. Nutrition labeling initiatives combined with complementary strategies, such as pricing strategies or other healthy food nudging approaches, should be considered to promote healthier beverage purchases.

Substitution among milk and yogurt products and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in the EPIC-NL cohort.

BACKGROUND: Higher dairy consumption has been associated with lower type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk, whereas dairy product subtypes appear to differ in their T2D risk association. We investigated whether replacing one type of milk or yogurt product with another is associated with T2D incidence. METHODS: Participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) cohort (n = 35 982) were included in the present study. Information on milk and yogurt consumption at baseline was obtained by a validated food frequency questionnaire. T2D cases were identified by self-report or linkage to the hospital discharge registry, and validated by consulting the general practitioner. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate associations. RESULTS: During a mean of 15 years of follow-up, 1467 indecent T2D cases were validated. Median total milk and yogurt intake was 1.5 servings (25th percentile to 75th percentile: 0.8-2.4). After adjustment for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, replacement of one serving (200 g) of whole-fat milk [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.60-1.44], buttermilk (HR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.58-1.34), skimmed milk (HR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.57-1.32) or skimmed fermented milk (HR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.63-1.54) with whole-fat yogurt was not associated with T2D risk. Substitutions among other milk and yogurt products were also not associated with T2D risk. Sensitivity analysis investigating T2D risk halfway follow-up suggested a lower risk for substitutions with whole-fat yogurt. CONCLUSIONS: No evidence was found for the association between substitutions among milk and yogurt products and the risk of incident T2D, although we cannot exclude possible attenuation of results as a result of dietary changes over time. This analysis should be repeated in a population with a wider consumption range of whole-fat yogurt.