In this blogpost we wish to highlight the following article as a candidate for a set of Robustness Reports:
Polden, M., Jones, A., Essman, M., Adams, J., Bishop, T. R. P., Burgoine, T., Sharp, S. J., White, M., Smith, R., Donohue, A., Witkam, R., Putra, I. G. N. E., Brealey, J., & Robinson, E. (2024). Evaluating the association between the introduction of mandatory calorie labelling and energy consumed using observational data from the out-of-home food sector in England. Nature Human Behaviour, 9(2), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02032-1
The abstract:
In April 2022, mandatory kilocalorie (kcal) labelling in the out-of-home food sector was introduced as a policy to reduce obesity in England. Here we examined whether the implementation of this policy was associated with a consumer behaviour change. Large out-of-home food sector outlets subject to kcal labelling legislation were visited pre- and post-implementation, and customer exit surveys were conducted with 6,578 customers from 330 outlets. Kcals purchased and consumed, knowledge of purchased kcals and reported noticing and use of kcal labelling were examined. The results suggested that the introduction of the mandatory kcal labelling policy in England was not associated with a significant decrease in self-reported kcals purchased (B = 11.31, P = 0.564, 95% confidence interval (CI) −27.15 to 49.77) or consumed (B = 18.51, P = 0.279, 95% CI −15.01 to 38 52.03 [sic; the table in the article suggests this ought to read 52.03]). Post-implementation, participants underestimated the energy content of their purchased meal less (B = 61.21, P = 0.002, 95% CI 21.57 to 100.86) and were more likely to report noticing (odds ratio 2.25, P < 0.001, 95% CI 1.84 to 2.73) and using (odds ratio 2.15, P < 0.001, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.85) kcal labelling, which may have wider public health implications.
We suggest this article for reanalysis because it has a considerable impact and far-reaching societal and policy implications. The findings indicate that while mandatory kcal labeling did not reduce calorie purchases or consumption, it increased awareness of the number of calories in meals. Nonetheless, on average, individuals still underestimated their calorie intake, especially older, non-White individuals from lower socioeconomic positions. Independent reanalyses could increase confidence in the findings and help better inform future interventions focused on healthy food consumption.
The data are publicly available at https://osf.io/rva8g/.
Author
Jari Holla
References
Polden, M., Jones, A., Essman, M., Adams, J., Bishop, T. R. P., Burgoine, T., Sharp, S. J., White, M., Smith, R., Donohue, A., Witkam, R., Putra, I. G. N. E., Brealey, J., & Robinson, E. (2024). Evaluating the association between the introduction of mandatory calorie labelling and energy consumed using observational data from the out-of-home food sector in England. Nature Human Behaviour, 9(2), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02032-1