Food labelling should show how much physical activity is needed to burn off the calories, not only the number of calories

New research from the UK shows that food labelling that includes the amount of physical activity needed to burn off the calories contained within it would be easier to understand than existing traffic light labelling, and would be more likely to help consumers to avoid high calorie foods. The study is by Professor Amanda Daley, Professor of Behavioural Medicine at Loughborough University, UK, and colleagues.

This so-called physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labelling was also found to be more popular among people aged under 65 years and those who are more physically active during a typical week, found the authors.

PACE provides another approach to nutrition labelling by providing calorie information with a meaningful interpretation of what the calorie content of the food means in terms of energy expenditure. It aims to illustrate how many minutes of physical activity are equivalent to the calories contained in food and drinks. For example: "calories in this cake requires 90 minutes of walking to burn off." - see examples in the link below. Some mobile phone apps for nutrition already incorporate PACE information.

The authors explain that while there is some evidence that PACE labelling may be effective in reducing calorie consumption, there is a lack of evidence about the views of the public concerning potential implementation in food settings. This new study obtained data from a nationally representative sample of adults recruited via the UK Ipsos KnowledgePanel.

More participants thought PACE was more likely to help them avoid high calorie food than traffic light labelling (44% vs 28%). Those aged 65 years and older were 40% less likely to prefer PACE over traffic light labelling compared with the youngest group (18-44 years).

There was a preference for PACE labelling to be placed on discretionary foods, for example chocolate and cakes, rather than 'every day' food items like bread, pasta, fruit and vegetables, and a preference for PACE to be displayed in fast food outlets, supermarkets, takeaway/online menus and vending machines, all locations that typically sell high energy dense food and drinks.