Jessica Aschemann-Witzel

Policies to promote healthy eating in Europe: a structured review of policies and their effectiveness

This review provides a classification of public policies to promote healthier eating as well as a structured mapping of existing measures in Europe. Complete coverage of alternative policy types was ensured by complementing the review with a selection of major interventions from outside Europe. Under the auspices of the Seventh Framework Programmes Eatwell Project, funded by the European Commission, researchers from five countries reviewed a representative selection of policy actions based on scientific papers, policy documents, grey literature, government websites, other policy reviews, and interviews with policy-makers. This work resulted in a list of 129 policy interventions, 121 of which were in Europe. For each type of policy, a critical review of its effectiveness was conducted, based on the evidence currently available. The results of this review indicate a need exists for a more systematic and accurate evaluation of government-level interventions as well as for a stronger focus on actual behavioral change rather than changes in attitude or intentions alone. The currently available evidence is very heterogeneous across policy types and is often incomplete.

Do Consumers Prefer Foods with Nutrition and Health Claims? Results of a Purchase Simulation

This contribution reports findings of a close-to-realistic purchase simulation for foods labelled with nutrition and health claims. The results show that products with a claim are clearly preferred, but that the determining factors of choice differ between the food categories. Choice was positively influenced by perception of healthiness of the product and negatively influenced by selection of the habitually chosen brand, while age, gender and credibility of the claim were of no importance. Both low price-level of the product with a claim and scepticism towards texts on food products had contrariwise effects for different food categories. Further determinants which exercised a positive influence were product involvement, health-related food involvement, extent of information search and the presumption that the claim is scientifically proven.

Assessment of evaluations made to healthy eating policies in Europe: A review within the EATWELL Project

OBJECTIVE To identify and assess healthy eating policies at national level which have been evaluated in terms of their impact on awareness of healthy eating, food consumption, health outcome or cost/benefit. DESIGN Review of policy documents and their evaluations when available. SETTING European Member States. SUBJECTS One hundred and twenty-one policy documents revised, 107 retained. RESULTS Of the 107 selected interventions, twenty-two had been evaluated for their impact on awareness or knowledge and twenty-seven for their impact on consumption. Furthermore sixteen interventions provided an evaluation of health impact, while three actions specifically measured any cost/benefit ratio. The indicators used in these evaluations were in most cases not comparable. Evaluation was more often found for public information campaigns, regulation of meals at schools/canteens and nutrition education programmes. CONCLUSIONS The study highlights the need not only to develop harmonized and verifiable procedures but also indicators for measuring effectiveness and success and for comparing between interventions and countries. EU policies are recommended to provide a set of indicators that may be measured consistently and regularly in all countries. Furthermore, public information campaigns should be accompanied by other interventions, as evaluations may show an impact on awareness and intention, but rarely on consumption patterns and health outcome.

Waste not, want not, emit less

Reducing food waste in the supply chain and at home can help to reduce carbon emissions Ensuring a sufficient supply of quality food for a growing human population is a major challenge, aggravated by climate change and already-strained natural resources. Food security requires production of some food surpluses to safeguard against unpredictable fluctuations (1). However, when food is wasted, not only has carbon been emitted to no avail, but disposal and decomposition in landfills create additional environmental impacts. Decreasing the current high scale of food waste is thus crucial for achieving resource-efficient, sustainable food systems (2). But, although avoiding food waste seems an obvious step toward sustainability, especially given that most people perceive wasting food as grossly unethical (3), food waste is a challenge that is not easily solved.

Interventions to promote healthy eating habits: evaluation and recommendations.

Although in several EU Member States many public interventions have been running for the prevention and/or management of obesity and other nutrition‐related health conditions, few have yet been formally evaluated. The multidisciplinary team of the EATWELL project will gather benchmark data on healthy eating interventions in EU Member States and review existing information on the effectiveness of interventions using a three‐stage procedure (i) Assessment of the interventions impact on consumer attitudes, consumer behaviour and diets; (ii) The impact of the change in diets on obesity and health and (iii) The value attached by society to these changes, measured in life years gained, cost savings and quality‐adjusted life years. Where evaluations have been inadequate, EATWELL will gather secondary data and analyse them with a multidisciplinary approach incorporating models from the psychology and economics disciplines. Particular attention will be paid to lessons that can be learned from private sector that are transferable to the healthy eating campaigns in the public sector. Through consumer surveys and workshops with other stakeholders, EATWELL will assess the acceptability of the range of potential interventions. Armed with scientific quantitative evaluations of policy interventions and their acceptability to stakeholders, EATWELL expects to recommend more appropriate interventions for Member States and the EU, providing a one‐stop guide to methods and measures in interventions evaluation, and outline data collection priorities for the future.

Processing- and product-related causes for food waste and implications for the food supply chain

Reducing food waste is one of the prominent goals in the current research, which has also been set by the United Nations to achieve a more sustainable world by 2030. Given that previous studies mainly examined causes for food waste generation related to consumers, e.g., expectations regarding quality or uncertainties about edibility, this review aims at providing an overview on losses in the food industry, as well as on natural mechanisms by which impeccable food items are converted into an undesired state. For this, scientific literature was reviewed based on a keyword search, and information not covered was gathered by conducting expert interviews with representatives from 13 German food processing companies. From the available literature, three main areas of food waste generation were identified and discussed: product deterioration and spoilage during logistical operations, by-products from food processing, and consumer perception of quality and safety. In addition, expert interviews revealed causes for food waste in the processing sector, which were categorised as follows: losses resulting from processing operations and quality assurance, and products not fulfilling quality demands from trade. The interviewees explained a number of strategies to minimise food losses, starting with alternative tradeways for second choice items, and ending with emergency power supplies to compensate for power blackouts. It became clear that the concepts are not universally applicable for each company, but the overview provided in the present study may support researchers in finding appropriate solutions for individual cases.

Consumer-Related Food Waste: Role of Food Marketing and Retailers and Potential for Action

ABSTRACT Food waste has received increasing attention in recent years. As part of their corporate social responsibility strategies, food supply chain actors have started to act towards avoiding and reducing food waste. Based on a literature review, an expert interview study, and example cases, we discuss food marketing and the role and responsibility of retail. Food marketing and retailing contribute to consumer-related food waste via decisions on date labeling, packaging sizes and design elements, and pricing strategies encouraging overpurchase, as well as communication shifting consumer priorities to the disadvantage of food waste avoidance. Potential actions to tackle food waste relate to improved packaging and information, altering pricing strategies, and cooperation with other actors across the supply chain. Three cases highlight the extent to which moral and strategic motives are interlinked and that there are opportunities for competitive advantage through corporate social responsibility and a business case for sustainability in the area of food waste.

A Macromarketing Perspective on Food Safety Regulation The Danish Ban on Trans-fatty Acids

This article discusses the implementation and diffusion of mandatory and voluntary food safety regulations from a marketing systems perspective, and specifically applies this framework to an analysis of the antecedents and implications of the Danish 2003 ban on trans-fatty acids (TFAs). The analysis is based on reviews of published material and on interviews with food marketers, nutrition experts, and policy makers. It is established that the ban was implemented due to scientific proof of health risks associated with the intake of TFAs but also as a result of aligned interests and efforts of the major stakeholders in the Danish food marketing system. Adding to the literature on diffusion of regulatory initiatives, the analysis shows that the Danish ban on trans-fats had—and still has—an important impact on trans-fat regulation in other European and overseas countries. In the final section, insights from the analysis are used as a starting point for a discussion of how public authorities, food marketers, and macromarketing researchers can apply the marketing systems perspective when designing, managing, and studying future cases of food safety regulation.

The EU Health Claim Regulation in International Comparison: Review of the Possible Impact on Food Marketing and Consumer Protection

Nutrition and health claims are voluntary claims on food indicating favourable nutritional content or health benefits of the food. Nutrition and health claims on food are increasingly regulated in the world market. This process is accompanied by intensive stakeholder discussions on the possible impact on consumer protection and food marketing effectiveness. This article reviews literature on regulations in the major food markets in comparison with the EU regulation. The focus is on identifying characteristics of regulations that are expected to have an impact on consumer protection and food marketing. The EU regulation is regarded as focusing relatively strongly on precaution and consumer understanding. The extent to which this hampers food innovations is in dispute. It is suggested that using marketing measures in favour of scientifically approved claims as well as stakeholder cooperation could help resolve this trade-off. Not only the EU regulation but also other frameworks have been criticized for vagueness and lack of transparency. Despite country-specific differences in regulation and enforcement, there is a high degree of similarity of the regulations for the fully approved claims. There are attempts to further harmonize the frameworks.

Food Waste Avoidance Actions in Food Retailing: The Case of Denmark

ABSTRACT Food waste occurs throughout the entire food supply chain, from production to consumption of food in households. Retailers are in a unique position to contribute to food waste avoidance, not only by minimizing the amount of waste in their distribution channels but also by influencing consumer attitudes and behaviors. This explorative study aims to identify which food waste avoidance actions are conducted by retailers in Denmark, to which extent, and how they vary across food categories and supermarket chain. Based on an analysis of secondary and empirical data collected via observations at retail stores, the authors identify 22 food waste avoidance actions in Danish retail. The results provide new insights into food waste avoidance in retail. Based on the findings, suggestions for further research directions are developed that should serve to identify the most efficient customer targeted actions in the in-store setting and marketing of suboptimal foods.