You Can Have Your Cake and Walk It Off!

Well not quite….

But food labels could soon be able to tell you exactly how much exercise you need to be doing and for how long to burn off those calories you have just eaten!

Scientists are now finding that packaging and labelling could be designed in a more attention-grabbing way by stating or showing how to burn off the calories of the food the consumers are about to pick up.

Why is This a Good Thing?

With the economy in the UK, the way it is currently, many households are still looking for healthier options in their budget range even if the items are not necessarily premium products. People still want to make healthier choices for their lifestyle and family but also align with their values such as choosing ranges that are recyclable or sustainable.

Adding fun images to packaging or even just information in an attention-grabbing way by stating how much exercise and for how long after they have consumed the chosen product will effectively help make consumers choices that much quicker and easier.

So, What Research Has Been Done?

• A recent study done on 2,668 shoppers, by Loughborough University has found that using a system known as PACE Labelling (Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent) to update the traffic light system, adding a warning on 200- calory product items to tell consumers that they would need to walk for 30 minutes to burn off those calories.

• Using this system, consumers would know at a quick glance, what treats they could include in their diet and lifestyle to manage their health and weight. Those who took part in the study highlighted how easy the PACE labelling was to understand and liked that it caught their focus quickly.

• Poll results taken during the study found that 49% found PACE caught their focus more when compared to 39% who thought the original traffic light system was more attention-grabbing. The second set of results produced similar findings, 41% Found PACE easier to comprehend the calories of a product, over the 27% who preferred the green, red and amber warnings.

• Those who took part in the study and were in favour of the PACE labelling stated that they would prefer the exercise warnings to be placed on unhealthier snacks and products, such as junk food. To combat obesity and provide more knowledge and awareness when consumers are choosing between products in stores.

• The Lead researcher of the project stated that current nutritional labels support people to make healthier choices but many people do not understand the meaning of all the information on them. Adding that shoppers often underestimate the calory numbers when there is no labelling provided.

So, What Research Is Left to Do?

The next step would be to test how PACE labelling would impact shoppers and their decision-making process between products. This would need to be tested within different environments from supermarkets to pubs, restaurants and fast-food outlets.  There are already apps that can display this information however, not all consumers use this technology and overall health would be achieved through simple menu and product labelling.

So, What Are The Overall Benefits?

Overall, consumers would benefit by having that reminder that should they choose this product over that they may have to do more exercise to maintain a healthy diet or weight. This would simplify and strengthen current food labelling and nutrition to a more coherent way for people to understand and make better choices for themselves and their families.

With the government currently reviewing their obesity policies and potentially scrapping sugar taxes etc a system as simple as this could not come at a better time for consumers to maintain their chosen lifestyles with better knowledge.

So, What Do We Think?

We think this is already achievable of course!

Brands can easily add this information to their product labelling or packaging whether that be under the traffic light system already in place or as an added extra bit of text on the back of the label.

Remember it’s all about eye-catching design and information placement that will get your product chosen over another.

If you want to refresh your look and rework your variables then get in touch with us!