Impact of Traffic Light Food Labelling on Consumer Awareness of Health and Healthy Choices of the Point-of-Purchase

Abstract

Sri Lanka introduced colour coding for sugar, salt & fat regulations, which was enforced from the 1st of June 2019. It is the latest food labelling regulation in Sri Lanka. Over the years of consumer studies, even though few studies have studied the impact of food labels on consumer purchase decisions, there is not enough evidence on traffic light food labelling system and its impact on health and healthy choices of the point-of-purchase. Hence, this research study on the impact of colour coding regulation on consumer’s buying decisions with special reference to Western Province, Sri Lanka. The purpose of this research was to study the influence of colour code label system on consumer’s buying decisions and analyse the consumer’s knowledge of the traffic light food labelling system. A purposely developed online questionnaire was administered to 200 randomly selected samples in Western Province in Sri Lanka. The questionnaire had three separate parts. The first part of the questionnaire sought information on the socio-demographic profile of the respondent. The second part had few questions on basic knowledge and behavioural aspect of traffic light food labelling system. The third part of the questionnaire was questioned about further improvements in the traffic light food label from the consumers’ perspective. IBM SPSS version 21 software was used for analysing collected data with frequency analysis and Friedman test. Results revealed that most of the consumers refer to the price label instead of other labels. Also, they are not giving special attention to traffic light food labels at the point-of-purchase. Among the consumers who considered traffic light food labelling system at the point-of-purchase, most respondents had a clear idea about different colour codes and would like to consume food products with a low level of sugar, salt, and fat.  Further, a fair number of respondents suggested enlarging the size of the existing colour codes of the traffic light food labelling system. Based on the results obtained, it can be observed that still Sri Lankan consumers are not significantly considered traffic light food labels at the point-of-purchase, and they are limited to seek the price tag at the point-of-purchase. Further, the findings of this study will act as a guide for food regulators when assessing the outcome of the new food labelling regulation of Sri Lanka.