BACKGROUND: The UK Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan aims to reduce consumer exposure to those food and drink products categorised as High in Fat Sugar Salt (HFSS)1. From October 2022, new Regulations2 will restrict in-store and online promotion of HFSS products, classified as such using the UK Nutrient Profiling Model (UK NPM), by “location” (i.e. entrance, aisle) and by “volume” (i.e. multibuy).
AIM: To evaluate the current prevalence of “HFSS” products and their characteristics, including the presence of nutrition labelling, within entrance and multibuy promotions in online UK Supermarkets prior to implementation of the Regulations.
METHODS: An online survey of products featured within three UK supermarket entrance pages and multibuy promotions was undertaken between December 2021-January 2022. Data was collected for products in categories which were in scope of the Regulations2by manually opening individual product webpages to record each product’s nutrient content “per 100g” and the presence of any Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL). Following computation of each product’s UK NPM scores, analyses included describing the distribution of HFSS products according to promotional type, product category and retailer. Variations in proportions of HFSS products by promotion type and presence of FOPNL was evaluated using chi-squared testing.
RESULTS: A total of 625 products were audited across 3 online supermarkets, which encompassed 523 products on multibuy promotions and 102 from entrance promotions. A total of 37% of multibuy-promoted products were categorised as HFSS. Of these, 95% of multibuy-promoted confectionery products were HFSS (n=168), 18% of soft drinks (n=83), 7.3% of yogurts (n=110) and 6.1% of ready meals (n=162). In entrance promotions, 72% of in-scope products were categorised as HFSS. Variations in proportion of HFSS products was found by retailer (ranging from 49% to 92%) as well as by promotional type, with entrance promotions almost twice as likely to contain HFSS than multibuy promotions (χ2 (1) = 42.0, p<0.005). Entrance-promoted products were also less likely to show FOPNL on product webpages than multibuy promotions (48% vs 74% respectively, χ2 (1) = 27.7, p<0.005).
DISCUSSION: The current study provides evidence that HFSS products in scope of the Regulation are currently promoted in UK supermarket websites, with variations seen across retailers, promotional type and product category. Findings reflect recent work on in-store “meal deals”3, which also find price promotions on products categorised as HFSS.
CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence to support the future post-implementation evaluation of these new Regulations, specifically their impact on the proportion of HFSS products sold on promotion in UK online supermarkets.

Prevalence and labelling characteristics of high fat sugar salt (HFSS) products in multibuy and entrance promotions in three UK supermarket websites

The Nutrition Society Summer Conference 2022 is hosted in collaboration between Sheffield Hallam University, University of Sheffield and Sheffield City Council. It will be the first in-person Summer Conference since the pandemic, held at the Sheffield Hallam University city centre campus.

Sustainability is high on the agenda for individuals and for society as a whole, recent meetings such as COP 26 have highlighted the urgency of addressing climate change, of which food systems are a key factor.

The overarching theme of this conference highlights sustainability- sustainability is a large, diverse and contemporary issue consisting of environmental, societal and health perspectives which will be addressed from varying angles. 

This meeting will consider how to build ethical food systems, tackle inequalities and sustain health and wellbeing for future generations.

The Organising Committee have considered local food provision and will offer you a chance to explore Sheffield and its local produce.