Victoria Jenneson

Background: The festive season is associated with weight gain that often persists into the new year, but the specific purchasing behaviours driving this are not well quantified. Christmas is also thought to be a period of disproportionate environmental impact, though the contribution from food purchasing has not been explored. The objective of this study was to use retail transaction data from a major UK supermarket to examine seasonal patterns in purchases of less healthy food and drink products (High in Fat, Sugar and/or Salt, HFSS), and the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) from sales, and to quantify the extent to which purchasing behaviours during the festive period differ from the rest of the year.Methods: Daily food and non-alcoholic beverage transaction data for 2022 for loyalty card holders living in Yorkshire and Humber were obtained from a major UK retailer. Products (>27,000) were classified as HFSS or non-HFSS using the UK Nutrient Profile Model and linked to GHGE estimates per kg. Changes in HFSS sales and GHGE were examined between the festive period (1-31 December 2022) and the baseline period (1 Jan-30 Nov 2022) using four metrics, expressed as the daily average over the two periods: HFSS sales (kg), percentage of all sales by weight that were HFSS (%HFSS), total GHGE from sales (kg-CO2-eq) and GHGE per kg (kg-CO2-eq·kg-1). Results: Marked increases in total HFSS sales and GHGE from sales were observed in the festive period (+25% and +15.3% respectively). The additional festive GHGE footprint was equivalent to 3,000 return flights from London to the North Pole. Consumers purchased proportionally more HFSS foods (+10.1%) and more foods with higher GHGE per kg (+6.6%). These changes were driven by shifts towards products that were both less healthy and more environmentally costly, particularly beef, chocolate and lamb.Conclusion: Christmas is traditionally associated with generosity, celebration and plentiful food. Our study shows that this festive cheer comes at a cost to health and the environment. With a little more thought about what food we buy, the festive period can still be enjoyed while also benefiting population and planetary health.

Background: Reducing meat consumption and substituting red and processed meats with plant-proteins could have positive health and environmental impacts. This study examined the impact of an in-store product positioning intervention on sales of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA) and meat-based products. Methods: Between September 2021 and January 2022, a major UK supermarket retailer implemented a product placement intervention that moved 25 chilled PBMAs from a separate dedicated PBMA bay within the meat aisle to being shelved next to their meat-based counterparts and the original dedicated PBMA bay was removed. No changes were made in control stores. To examine the effectiveness of the intervention on sales of PBMAs and meat-based products, controlled interrupted time series analysis was conducted using 538 days of sales data from 6 intervention stores and 6 matched control stores. Results: Overall, there was a significant difference between intervention and control stores in the change in sales of PBMAs attributable to the intervention (-51.18 units, 95% CI: -97.15, -5.21, indicating that positioning PBMAs next to their meat-based counterparts led to a measurable reduction in PBMA sales in intervention stores. There was no difference between the intervention and control stores in sales of other meat-free products, meat-based products, or products within the protein Eatwell category, indicating that the intervention had no measurable effect on sales of products other than the relocated PBMAs. Price-point comparison analysis revealed that PBMA products were significantly more expensive than their meat-based counterparts.Conclusion: This study revealed that positioning PBMAs next to their meat-based counterparts was not effective at increasing sales of PBMAs and in fact led to a significant reduction in sales of the repositioned PBMAs. The reduction observed may have resulted from regular PBMA customers not being able to find the relocated PBMAs or from the higher price of PBMAs compared to their meat-based counterparts or both. Future research in real-world settings is needed to better understand the behavioural levers that encourage customers towards healthier and more sustainable purchases. Future research should also examine whether placement-based interventions, such as dual-placement coupled with price promotions, can support meaningful behavioural shifts towards more sustainable choices.

There is a "data revolution" where data are generated by many aspects of public life, and though not originally intended for research, these data can be repurposed for research applications. However, in social research relating to nutrition and health, academic-industry data sharing partnerships are rare. This exploratory research uses insights from a case study of a successful academic-industry data sharing partnership in social research to produce a pilot framework to aid the generation of industry-academia data sharing collaborations. Ten participants were interviewed: six from the University of Leeds, and four from a large UK supermarket, Sainsbury’s Plc, from different roles across the partnership. We used semi-structured interviews and analysed data using deductive reflexive thematic analysis. The resultant themes were organised into a preliminary framework based on the Data Sharing Pyramid (how raw data is transformed into wisdom through processing and interpretation). Our preliminary insights form the - Academia-Industry Partnership (AIP) framework - which constitutes four components: 1) the Research Infrastructure Foundation, where participants emphasised the importance of investing time and resources before starting research; 2) the Data Sharing Process, which involves applying principles of the research infrastructure foundation and robust data governance to enable sharing of novel commercially sensitive data; 3) the Research Process, which captured how shared data is used and the resulting outputs and impacts; and 4) the Partnership Strategy which focused on nurturing the partnership across all areas of the framework. This study uniquely uses a real-world case study to develop a preliminary framework, facilitating shared learnings for the development of data sharing partnerships in social research to further the use of commercial data for public good.

Objective: Food environments can influence dietary behaviours. Promotion of foods high in fats, salt and sugars is a barrier to healthy eating. We explore advertising by deprivation in an English city. Design: Using a cross-sectional design, we describe the prevalence of outdoor advertising, the types of products advertised and the UK Nutrient Profile Modelling scores for advertised foods and non-alcoholic beverages. Differences in outdoor advertising prevalence by area deprivation were assessed using χ² tests. Setting: Six areas in each of five deprivation strata were randomly selected from all 482 Leeds neighbourhoods (England) (n 30 neighbourhoods). Participants: Eligible outdoor advertisement assets (intentionally placed permanent/semi-permanent advertisements visible from the street) were photographed in May–June 2023. Results: A total of 295 outdoor advertising assets were recorded. The most deprived quintile had the highest number of advertising assets (n 74). Bus shelters were the most prevalent asset (n 68). The number of food adverts differed significantly by deprivation level. The two most deprived areas had higher than expected exposure, while the two least deprived areas had lower than expected exposure (P < 0·01). Data were insufficient to compare compliance against a hypothetical Healthier Food Advertising Policy; however, bus shelters were most likely to display high in fats, salt and sugars food adverts. Conclusions: Food advertising in Leeds is unequally distributed, with more food adverts in more deprived areas. Similar inequalities may exist in other cities, but data are scarce. Unhealthy adverts are most prevalent on bus shelters, highlighting an important asset for policy focus.

In October 2022, legislation in England restricted retailer placement of High in Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) products in prominent locations in-store and online. This study evaluates the impacts of the legislation, and whether impacts were equitable. Interrupted time series analyses, using daily store-level sales data from up-to-18-months pre- and 12-months post-legislation across 480 stores from three retailers in England were conducted. Results revealed 0.63 percentage-point (95% CI: -1.24, -0.51) reduction in in-store sales of in-scope HFSS products by weight and a 1.19 percentage-point (95% CI: -1.61, -0.77) reduction by unit volume, following the introduction of the legislation. Subgroup analysis indicated impact was equitable for stores across Priority Places for Food Index deciles. Findings demonstrate that legislation restricting promotion of less healthy foods drives meaningful reductions in sales of in-scope HFSS products. Further legislation is needed to achieve the magnitude of change necessary to reverse obesity trends and improve population health.

ObjectiveTo assess whether calorific screening thresholds improved the agreement between objective consumer purchase data, from supermarket transaction records, and self-reported dietary intake, from a Food Frequency questionnaire (FFQ), for people living with (PLWOw/Obwith) and without (PLWOw/Obwithout) overweight/obesity.DesignParticipants were recruited across a one-year period (1st June 2020 – 31st May 2021). Six screening thresholds were employed, using the estimated number of calories purchased for the individual, to filter participant data. Bland-Altman analyses were compared between PLWOw/Obwith and PLWOw/Obwithout for energy, sugar, total fat, saturated fat, protein and sodium.SettingPartnered with a large UK retailer.ParticipantsParticipants (N=1788) were recruited via the retailer’s loyalty card customer database. Participants with completed FFQs, shared transaction records, height, weight and household composition data were included for analysis (N=642).ResultsAgreement was found between objective purchase data and self-reported dietary intake at ≥1000 Kcal/day (energy, sugar, total fat and saturated fat) and ≥1500 Kcal/day (protein and sodium). PLWOw/Obwith consumed greater energy (19%), sugar (36%), total fat (22%) and saturated fat (25%) than they were estimated to have purchased at the retailer. PLWOw/Obwithout only consumed greater sugar (19%). ConclusionsThe application of screening thresholds based on estimated individual calories purchased may provide a valuable preprocessing step within the analysis of consumer purchase data, allowing agreement to be found for absolute nutrient values. Differences in bias between PLWOw/Obwith and PLWOw/Obwithout show that insights into purchase and consumption patterns can be identified using consumer purchase data.

Introduction: From 1 October 2022, new legislation in England restricts the placement of some food and drink products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) in stores with a sales floor larger than 185.8 m ² (2000 sq ft). ‘Less healthy’ products in 13 categories, which fail the UK Nutrient Profiling Model, cannot be placed at store entrances, ends of aisles, at checkouts or their online equivalents. Reducing the prominence of ‘less healthy’ foods should decrease impulse purchases and excess calorie intake. Stores in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are exempt, but the UK Devolved Nations are considering similar rules. Methods and analysis: Daily store-level sales and product data from multiple UK retailers will be used to evaluate the legislation’s impacts in relation to HFSS sales, retailer product portfolios and equitability across different areas in England. Food and drink sales data from 18 months pre-policy and 12 months post-policy implementation will be gained for a sample of stores. Controlled interrupted time series modelling will be used to estimate policy effects, with stores from Scotland and Wales acting as controls. Online sales are excluded. Stores from study partner retailers were identified using Geolytix retail points data. Selected stores were defined as mid-sized or larger (>280 m) by Geolytix, to ensure legislation eligibility. 160 stores in England (intervention sample) and 50 stores in Scotland/Wales (control sample) were selected for each partner retailer. For each retailer, we sampled equal intervention store numbers (n=16) across each tenth of the Priority Places for Food Index (PPFI). Weighting was used to ensure maximum sample variability by store size and area demographic characteristics (urban/rural status) within each PPFI tenth. Ethics and dissemination: This study has received approval from the Business, Environment and Social Sciences ethical review board at the University of Leeds (AREA 21–063). Findings at the retailer and cross-retailer levels will be published in academic journal articles as well as industry-facing reports coproduced by Institute of Grocery Distribution. Through meetings and workshops, we will disseminate results to inform future business practice and policymaking across the UK Devolved Nations. Registration: Protocol was first published on Open Science Framework https://osf.io/jp9eh .

Background: The global food system faces growing pressure from population growth, climate change, wealth inequity, geo-political instability, and damage to the ecosystems on which our food supply depends. Fragmentation of the priorities and needs of food system stakeholders—citizens, food producers, food industries, governments—compounds the problem, with competing or misaligned interests increasing the risk of failure to adequately meet the needs of those that form, and are served, by the food system. Growing consensus on the need for transformative system level change to address the problems facing the food system is yet to be significantly reflected in strategic action. Methods: The national food strategy of the UK is offered as an exemplar to discuss the need to promote more coherent and ambitious visions of transformative change that acknowledge the complexity of the food system as a whole. We draw upon cross-sectoral experience to distil the needs, priorities, and key food system tensions that must be acknowledged to promote transformative systems change that equitably delivers healthy sustainable diets, contributes to a resilient global food system, and protects the environment. Results: Greater coherence, ambition, and consideration of the food system as a whole are needed if a UK national food strategy is to contribute to significant transformative change. Conclusions: To promote this, we advocate for (1) a food system digital twin to model and test potential food system interventions or legislation; (2) a citizens’ forum to inform and co-develop a cohesive national food strategy; and (3) increased cohesion and integration of food system governance within government to drive a coherent, ambitious national food strategy.

Digital footprint data are inspiring a new era in population health and well-being research. Linking these novel data with other datasets is critical for future research wishing to use these data for the public good. In order to succeed, successful collaboration among industry, academics and policy-makers is vital. Therefore, we discuss the benefits and obstacles for these stakeholder groups in using digital footprint data for research in the UK. We advocate for policy-makers’ inclusion in research efforts, stress the exceptional potential of digital footprint research to impact policy-making and explore the role of industry as data providers, with a focus on shared value, commercial sensitivity, resource requirements and streamlined processes. We underscore the importance of multidisciplinary approaches, consumer trust and ethical considerations in navigating methodological challenges and further call for increased public engagement to enhance societal acceptability. Finally, we discuss how to overcome methodological challenges, such as reproducibility and sharing of learnings, in future collaborations. By adopting a multiperspective approach to outlining the challenges of working with digital footprint data, our contribution helps to ensure that future research can navigate these challenges effectively while remaining reproducible, ethical and impactful.

The current cost‐of‐living crisis is disproportionately affecting families experiencing poverty and is likely to be amplifying existing dietary inequalities and challenges, such as food insecurity (FI). Government policies designed to address diet inequality in the UK have historically had minimal impact on population diet and health and may have even widened existing inequalities. Therefore, the effect of nutrition policies on those experiencing FI in the context of the current cost‐of‐living crisis needs to be better understood. The aim of the Diet and Health Inequalities (DIO Food) project is to work with early years, people living on a low income and retailers to generate opportune evidence‐based research and commentary that will inform diet‐related health inequalities policy and practice. DIO Food is related to the existing Food Insecurity in people living with Obesity (FIO Food) project, which consists of four interlinked work packages (WPs1‐4). DIO Food consists of three interlinked work packages (WPs5‐7), which enhance the scope of FIO Food, and are described in this article. WP5 addresses a paucity of research on maternal and infant food insecurity in the UK, by applying a qualitative research approach to capture parents' and carers' perceptions of the relationship between the food system and other influences impacting infant feeding practice, associated with the cost‐of‐living crisis. WP6 will conduct the first‐ever cross‐retailer independent evaluation of England's high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) product placement legislation. Researchers will analyse store‐level supermarket sales data provided by large UK retailers to produce sector‐level insights into whether HFSS legislation reduced HFSS purchasing, improved the healthiness of retailer product portfolios, and was equitable across areas with different characteristics. WP7 will support WP5 and 6, by strengthening engagement with key stakeholders, including at‐risk consumers and representatives of major supermarkets, and effectively translating research outcomes and stakeholder perspectives for policy and industry decision‐makers.