Food reformulation and nutritional quality of food consumption: an analysis based on households panel data in France

Abstract

Background/objectives:
We aimed to quantify the contribution of food reformulation to changes in the nutritional quality of consumers' food purchases, and compare it with the impact of substitutions made by consumers.

Subjects/methods:
Using a brand-specific data set in France, we considered the changes in the nutrient content of food products in four food sectors over a 3-year period. These data were matched with data on consumers' purchases to estimate the change in the nutritional quality of consumers' purchases. This change was divided into three components: the reformulation of food products, the launching of new products and the consumers' substitutions between products. Key nutrients were selected for each food group: breakfast cereals (sugar, fats, SFA, fiber, and sodium), biscuits and cakes (sugar, fats, SFA, and fiber), potato chips (fats, SFA, and sodium) and soft drinks (sugar).

Results:
Product reformulation initiatives have improved existing products for most food group-nutrient pairs. In particular, the contribution of food reformulation to the change in nutritional quality of food purchases was strong in potato chips (the sales-weighted mean SFA and sodium contents decreased by 31.4% to 52.1% and 6.7% to 11.1%, respectively), and breakfast cereals (the sales-weighted mean sodium content decreased by 7.3% to 9.7%). Regarding the launching of new products, the results were ambiguous. Consumers' substitutions between food items were not generally associated to an improvement in the nutritional quality of the food purchases.

Conclusions:
Policies aiming to promote food reformulation may have greater impact than those promoting changes in consumer behavior.

Full text

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2018) 72:228–235
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-017-0044-3
ARTICLE
Food reformulation and nutritional quality of food consumption: an
analysis based on households panel data in France
Marine Spiteri1●Louis-Georges Soler2
Received: 10 May 2017 / Revised: 12 September 2017 / Accepted: 8 October 2017 / Published online: 22 December 2017
© The Author(s) 2018. This article is published with open access
Abstract
Background/objectives We aimed to quantify the contribution of food reformulation to changes in the nutritional quality of
consumers’food purchases, and compare it with the impact of substitutions made by consumers.
Subjects/methods Using a brand-specific data set in France, we considered the changes in the nutrient content of food
products in four food sectors over a 3-year period. These data were matched with data on consumers’purchases to estimate
the change in the nutritional quality of consumers’purchases. This change was divided into three components: the refor-
mulation of food products, the launching of new products and the consumers’substitutions between products. Key nutrients
were selected for each food group: breakfast cereals (sugar, fats, SFA, fiber, and sodium), biscuits and cakes (sugar, fats,
SFA, and fiber), potato chips (fats, SFA, and sodium) and soft drinks (sugar).
Results Product reformulation initiatives have improved existing products for most food group-nutrient pairs. In particular,
the contribution of food reformulation to the change in nutritional quality of food purchases was strong in potato chips (the
sales-weighted mean SFA and sodium contents decreased by 31.4% to 52.1% and 6.7% to 11.1%, respectively), and
breakfast cereals (the sales-weighted mean sodium content decreased by 7.3% to 9.7%). Regarding the launching of new
products, the results were ambiguous. Consumers’substitutions between food items were not generally associated to an
improvement in the nutritional quality of the food purchases.
Conclusions Policies aiming to promote food reformulation may have greater impact than those promoting changes in
consumer behavior.
Introduction
To promote healthier diets, two types of interventions are
generally considered. The first one aims at increasing con-
sumers’awareness of the relationship between food and
health, through information and education campaigns. Prior
literature shows that these policies have positive albeit small
effects. The second type of intervention aims at improving
the food environment of consumers [1,2] in order facilitate
healthy choices. The reformulation of food products,
through the decrease in salt, fat or sugar contents, is an
example of this type of intervention made to favor a better
food environment [3–8]. In many countries, public health
agencies implement partnerships with the food industry and
the retail sector in order to improve the nutritional quality of
foods available on the market [9–13].
What can we expect from such policies focusing on the
supply side? The potential impact of food reformulation
initiatives on consumers’intakes and public health has been
investigated in recent studies. Based on simulations, refor-
mulation scenarios related to salt [14–18] or trans fats [19]
contents in foods, or based on the adoption of quality
standards by the food industry [20–25], show that the
modification of the nutritional quality of foods may poten-
tially induce significant health benefits.
However, considering the available literature, it is worth-
while to note that most articles address the effects of
‘‘potential’’ changes in food quality and are based on refor-
mulation scenarios and simulations rather than ‘‘real’’ changes
implemented by the food industry. The reason that most
*Louis-Georges Soler
louis-georges.soler@inra.fr
1Toulouse School of Economics, INRA, University of Toulouse
Capitole, Toulouse, France
2INRA-Aliss UR 1303, 65 Boulevard de Brandebourg, 94205
Ivry sur Seine, France
1234567890
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articles address potential reformulation scenarios is linked to
the lack of precise data on quality changes and reformulation
initiatives implemented by the food industry [26,27].
Recently, however, such data sets have been developed in
some countries [28–30], enabling researchers to evaluate not
only ‘‘potential’’ scenarios of food reformulation but also real
changes implemented by the food industry.
Based on data collected in France, the aim of this
article is to contribute to estimating the magnitude of refor-
mulation efforts implemented by the food industry and
quantifying their impact on the nutritional quality of con-
sumer purchases.
Methods and data
The changes in consumers’nutrient intakes between two
dates may result from changes in consumption patterns
(consumer purchases switch from some products to others)
or changes in the quality of the food products available on
the market. These changes on the supply side can be caused
by the launching of new products and the removal of old
products or the reformulation (i.e., the change in the nutri-
tional composition) of already existing products. In order to
analyze the changes in salt intakes in the U.K., a recent
article [28] proposed a method to quantify these three
effects. Longitudinal data on the contents of the grocery
baskets of a nationally representative sample of households
showed that the average salt content of grocery purchases
fell by 5.1%, from 0.370 g in 2005 to 0.351 g in 2011. This
variation was divided into three components: reformulation
of existing food products by manufacturers, the net effect of
the launching/removal of products, and consumer switching
between products. We applied a similar method in France
by focusing on four specific food groups and considering a
larger set of key nutrients.
A focus on four food sectors
Four food groups were considered (breakfast cereals, biscuits
and cakes, potato chips, and soft drinks) for two reasons.
First, these food groups are strong contributors to the intake
of some nutrients that the French public health agency
recommends limiting (See https://www.anses.fr/fr/content/l%
E2%80%99anses-actualise-les-rep%C3%A8res-de-
consommations-alimentaires-pour-la-population-fran%C3%
A7aise). Second, voluntary commitments to food reformu-
lation have been taken by several companies involved in
these sectors (See http://solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/prevention-
en-sante/preserver-sa-sante/le-programme-national-nutrition-
sante/article/les-signataires-des-chartes-d-engagements-de-
progres-nutritionnels and http://agriculture.gouv.fr/alimenta
tion/accords-collectifs-pour-lamelioration-de-loffre-alimenta
ire). Data on the nutritional content of food products were
obtained from the French Food Quality Observatory (See
www.oqali.fr/oqali_eng/) (Oqali). The Oqali database is
brand-specific and is specifically designed to follow, over
time, the changes in the nutrient contents of products sold on
the French market. Depending on the food groups, data were
first collected between 2008 and 2010, and the same protocol
was repeated in 2011 or 2013 so that the observation period
covered two or 3 years. Key nutrients were selected for each
food category: sugar, fats, saturated fats (SFA), fiber, and
sodium for breakfast cereals; sugar, fats, saturated fats, and
fiber for biscuits and cakes; fats, saturated fats, and sodium
for potato chips; and sugar for soft drinks. Table 1displays
the number of products considered in each food category, the
covered market shares and the initial and second dates of data
collection. Within each food category, the sampled food
products were partitioned into three subgroups: products
removed from the market between t0and t1(Group X), paired
products present on the market at both t0and t1(Group C),
and new products launched before t1(Group N). Food
composition data were matched with purchase data from
Kantar Worldpanel (The Kantar Worldpanel database pro-
vides details on the quantities bought and the corresponding
food expenditures by a representative panel of 20,000
households in France) to compute the market share of each
product at dates t0and t1(The use of nutritional data was
approved by the steering committee of Oqali. We did not
have to ask for an ethical agreement as the food purchase
data were anonymous).
Decomposing the contributions of the food industry
and consumer behavior changes
To measure the evolution of the nutritional quality of food
purchases, we considered the changes in the sales-weighted
average content of key nutrients between dates t0and t1in
each food group. To disentangle the effects of changes on
the supply side from those on the consumer side, we used
the method proposed by Griffith et al. [28]. Let us denote St
as the sales-weighted mean content of a specific key
nutrient for one food group at time t. This value is given at
t0and t1by
St0¼P
i
wit0sit0
St1¼P
i
wit1sit1
where iindexes individual food products, wit0is the market
share of the food product iat t0, and sit0denotes the content
of a given nutrient of the food product iat t0(similar
notation applies for t1). The change in the sales-weighted
mean content of a specific key nutrient between t0and t1is
defined as ΔS¼St1St0. The decomposition into supply
Food reformulation and nutritional quality of food consumption 229
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and demand effects is given by
ΔS¼X
i2C
wit0sit1sit0
ðÞ ð1Þ
þX
i2N
wit1sit1Sto
ðÞ
X
i2X
wit0sit0St0
ðÞ ð2Þ
þX
i2C
sit0St0
ðÞwit1wit0
ðÞþ
X
i2C
sit1sit0
ðÞwit1wit0
ðÞ
ð3Þ
In this expression, the first term (1) accounts for the
effect of food reformulation carried out on products col-
lected at both t0and t1considering their market share at t0.
Thus, the contribution of a reformulated product to this term
will be greater if its market share at t0is high. The second
term (2) captures the impact of product renewal, more
precisely, the entry of products to the market or their
withdrawal between t0and t1. This term takes into account
the nutrient content of the new products or the removed
products (compared with the overall sales-weighted mean
nutrient content at t0) and their market shares. Thus, for
example, a new product with high sugar content will
increase the sales-weighted mean sugar content of the food
group. This effect will be more important if its market share
is high. The last term (3) reflects consumer switching inside
group C (products collected at both t0and t1):
●The sub-term P
i2C
sit0St0
ðÞwit1wit0
ðÞrepresents the
contribution of a change in the market share of a
product between t0and t1. For example, if consumers
shift toward products that have high sugar content
(compared with the sales-weighted mean sugar content
of the food group at t0), this step will raise the overall
sales-weighted mean sugar content.
●The sub-term P
i2C
sit1sit0
ðÞwit1wit0
ðÞcaptures the
cross effect of changes in the nutrient content
and in the market shares of group C products. For
example, if consumers shift towards products that are
reformulated to have less sugar, this term will be
negative.
Data processing
The algorithm presented above is valid if the total market
shares covered at t0and t1are equal to 100% and the
nutritional composition of the sampled products is known.
This scenario is not exactly the case, as the Oqali samples
do not cover 100% of the sales volume. Two scenarios of
data processing, based on different assumptions, were
considered. A first computation (scenario 1) was modeled
by assuming that the non-collected references had, on
average, the same characteristics as the whole sample and
followed the same evolution between t0and t1. This data
processing distorts the data less if the market coverage of
the samples studied is high and of the same order of mag-
nitude at t0and t1, and if the samples are representative of
the market at each time of data collection. A second com-
putation (scenario 2) was modeled by assuming that the
products that were not identified in the Oqali data set but
were present in the Kantar Worldpanel data set had, on
average, the same nutritional composition as the whole
sample and were stable over the period of observation.
Finally, missing nutrient composition data were inferred by
assuming that the products had not been reformulated.
Results
Figure 1displays the proportion of the three types of
products (X, C, and N) in each food group by applying
scenario 1. Around a quarter of the market was renewed
during the observation period. Tables 2to 5present the
effects of food reformulation, product renewal and con-
sumer switching. As expected, both scenarios led to similar
results, but the magnitude was lower with scenario 2, which
tends to overestimate the volumes of the group C products
and underestimate the magnitude of reformulation initia-
tives. In the following sections, the estimated effects of food
reformulation, product renewal and change in consumer
choice will be discussed as a range of results, with the low
range corresponding to the results obtained with scenario 2
and the high range corresponding to those obtained with
scenario 1.
Breakfast cereals
In the breakfast cereal sector, one can observe strong
changes in the sales-weighted average contents of fats and
saturated fats (+7.5 to 10.1% and +10.2 to 13.6%,
respectively). Evidently, it is consumer choices that mostly
15% of t market 21% of t market 9% of t market 5% of t market
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Breakfast
cereals
Biscuits and
pastries
Potato chips Soft Drinks
New products
(group N)
Paired
products
(group C)
Removed
products
(group X)
74% 79%
64%
74%
26% 21%
36%
26%
Fig. 1 Partitioning of the samples into subgroups (in market shares)
230 M. Spiteri, L-G Soler
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explain the negative change, from a public health point of
view, of the weighted average contents of these nutrients.
One can also observe an interesting decrease in the sales-
weighted average sodium content in breakfast cereals (−8.3
to −11.1%). This decrease is clearly the result of refor-
mulations that generated a 7.3 to 9.7% decrease in the
related mean sodium content, and to a lesser degree, con-
sumer switching (generated a 3.6 to 4.9% decrease). Con-
versely, the innovation/withdrawal effect partly offsets
these improvements, leading to a 2.6 to 3.5% increase in the
sales-weighted mean sodium content.
Finally, it appears that the sales-weighted average sugar
content slightly increased in breakfast cereals between t0
and t1(+0.5 to 0.7%). Despite some food reformulations
that led to decreases in the sales-weighted mean sugar
content by 2.3 to 3.0%, consumer switching and product
renewal resulted in an increase in the sales-weighted sugar
content.
Biscuits and cakes
Overall, in the biscuits and cakes sector, the changes in the
nutritional quality of food purchases between t0and t1were
small, except for SFA (the sales-weighted mean SFA con-
tent decreased by 2.4 to 3.7%).
Food reformulation and, to a lesser extent, consumer
switching contributed to decreasing the weighted mean SFA
content (by −1.9 to −2.7% and by −1.2 to −2.0%,
respectively). However, these improvements were partially
offset by product renewal, which led to an increase in the
related mean content of 0.7 to 1.0%.
Potato chips
In the potato chip sector, we observed very strong changes
in the sales-weighted average nutrient content in two cases:
sodium (the related mean content decreased by 10.2 to
12.6%) and SFA (the related mean content decreased by
47.4 to 58.5%). In both cases, these changes were mainly
due to the reformulation effect and, to a lesser degree
(approximately half the size), to the innovation/withdrawal
effect. Conversely, consumer switching weakened these
changes as they slightly increased the sales-weighted mean
contents of SFA (by 1.8 to 16%) and sodium (by 2.7% with
scenario 1). This difference is mainly explained by con-
sumers turning away from products that were reformulated
to have less SFA and sodium. However, according to the
innovation/withdrawal effect, it is worth noting that the
consumers switched toward new products with less sodium
and SFA.
Soft drinks
Finally, in the soft drink sector, it appears that the sales-
weighted average sugar content slightly decreased between
t0and t1. This decrease was clearly the result of the refor-
mulation effect that generated a 1.7 to 2.2% decrease and
the innovation/withdrawal effect that generated a 2.2 to
2.4% decrease in the weighted mean sugar content. Con-
versely, consumer switching offset these effects, leading to
a 3.8 to 4.4% increase in the sales-weighted mean sugar
content.
Discussion
In this study, we aimed to quantify the contribution of food
reformulation to changes in the nutritional quality of con-
sumer food purchases. We compared the contribution of
food reformulation to that of other factors affecting: the
renewal of products on the market and substitutions made
by consumers among existing products.
This study clearly has some limitations. The most
important one is linked to the non exhaustive coverage of
the products available on the market in the Oqali data set.
The algorithm used to decompose the variation of the
nutritional quality of food purchases into the three effects
presented above, imposed to have a full coverage of the
market at t0and t1. As it was not the case in our data set, we
had to make some assumptions about the nutritional content
of non-collected items. Two scenarios were considered.
Even if the magnitude of the effects differs depending on
the scenario, the results seem robust as the general con-
clusions are the same in both cases.
Overall, the results show that, in the four food groups,
product reformulation initiatives implemented by the food
Table 1 Characteristics of the samples of food products
Date t0Date t1
Year Number of products Covered market share (%) Year Number of products Covered market share (%)
Breakfast cereals 2008 254 75.1 2011 362 74.6
Biscuits and cakes 2008 1436 70.4 2011 1824 65.4
Potato chips 2009 135 60.4 2011 217 81
Soft drinks 2010 619 78.1 2013 1208 86.3
Food reformulation and nutritional quality of food consumption 231
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Table 2 Changes in the sales-weighted average content of key nutrients between dates t0and t1in Breakfast cereals
Breakfast cereals Weigthed average at t0Weigthed average at t1Variation of the weighted
average t1/t0
Reformulation New products and
product withdrawals
Consumers switching
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Sugar 27.7 27.9 27.8 0.7% 0.5% −3.0% −2.3% 1.4% 1.0% 2.4% 1.8%
Total fats 7.4 8.1 7.9 10.1% 7.5% −0.8% −0.6% −1.0% −0.8% 11.9% 9.0%
SFA 3.0 3.4 3.3 13.6% 10.2% −0.6% −0.4% 1.4% 1.0% 12.8% 9.6%
Fiber 5.1 5.1 5.1 −1.4% −1.1% 2.9% 2.2% −5.1% −3.8% 0.8% 0.6%
Sodium 0.3 0.3 0.3 −11.1% −8.3% −9.7% −7.3% 3.5% 2.6% −4.9% −3.6%
(a) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t0(g/100 g)
(b) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t1(g/100 g)
(c) Total change in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content between t0and t1(%)
(d) Contribution of reformulation of existing food products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(e) Contribution of product renewal (launching/removal of products) to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(f) Contribution of consumers switching between existing products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(c)=(d)+(e)+(f)
Table 3 Changes in the sales-weighted average content of key nutrients between dates t0and t1in Biscuits and Cookies
Cookies and biscuits Weigthed average at t0Weigthed average at t1Variation of the weighted
average t1/t0
Reformulation New products and
product withdrawals
Consumers switching
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Sugar 32.3 32.8 32.6 1.7% 1.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.8% 0.5% 0.7% 0.5%
Total fats 18.9 18.8 18.9 −0.5% −0.3% −1.2% −0.8% −0.2% −0.2% 0.9% 0.7%
SFA 9.4 9.1 9.2 −3.7% −2.4% −2.7% −1.9% 1.0% 0.7% −2.0% −1.2%
Fiber 2.8 2.8 2.8 −1.3% −0.9% 0.8% 0.6% −2.2% −1.4% 0.0% 0.0%
(a) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t0(g/100 g)
(b) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t1(g/100 g)
(c) Total change in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content between t0and t1(%)
(d) Contribution of reformulation of existing food products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(e) Contribution of product renewal (launching/removal of products) to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(f) Contribution of consumers switching between existing products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(c)=(d)+(e)+(f)
232 M. Spiteri, L-G Soler
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Table 4 Changes in the sales-weighted average content of key nutrients between dates t0and t1in Potato Chips
Potato chips Weigthed average at t0Weigthed average at t1Variation of the weighted
average t1/t0
Reformulation New products and
product withdrawals
Consumers switching
(a)(b) (c) (d)(e)(f)
Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Total fats 34.7 34.5 34.6 −0.4% −0.4% 0.2% 0.1% −0.3% −0.4% −0.3% −0.1%
SFA 8.4 3.5 4.4 −58.5% −47.4% −52.1% −31.4% −22.4% −17.7% 16.0% 1.8%
Sodium 0.7 0.6 0.6 −12.6% −10.2% −11.1% −6.7% −4.2% −3.4% 2.7% −0.1%
(a) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t0(g/100 g)
(b) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t1(g/100 g)
(c) Total change in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content between t0and t1(%)
(d) Contribution of reformulation of existing food products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(e) Contribution of product renewal (launching/removal of products) to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(f) Contribution of consumers switching between existing products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(c)=(d)+(e)+(f)
Table 5 Changes in the sales-weighted average content of key nutrients between dates t0and t1in Soft drinks
Soft drinks Weigthed average at t0Weigthed average at t1Variation of the weighted
average t1/t0
Reformulation New products and product
withdrawals
Consumers switching
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)
Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Sugar 6.5 6.5 6.5 −0.1% −0.1% −2.2% −1.7% −2.4% −2.2% 4.4% 3.8%
(a) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t0(g/100 g)
(b) Sales-weighted mean nutrient content at t1(g/100 g)
(c) Total change in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content between t0and t1(%)
(d) Contribution of reformulation of existing food products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(e) Contribution of product renewal (launching/removal of products) to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(f) Contribution of consumers switching between existing products to changes in the sales-weighted mean nutrient content (%)
(c)=(d)+(e)+(f)
Food reformulation and nutritional quality of food consumption 233
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industry have improved existing products (available on the
market at t0and t1) for most targeted food group-nutrient
pairs (except for the sugar content of biscuits and cakes and
the total fat content of chips). It is likely that some of these
changes are linked to individual or collective agreements
implemented by the food industry and the French govern-
ment since 2008. In the breakfast cereal sector, for instance,
several agreements were signed between 2008 and 2011, in
which two large food manufacturers and several retailers
were involved. Another example is given by the potato
chips sector. The saturated fat levels in potato chips sharply
declined between 2009 and 2011, mainly thanks to refor-
mulations (which led to a −2.6 to −4.4 g/100 g decrease in
the sales-weighted average content of saturated fats in this
sector). This decrease was the result of a collective self-
action by the industry to replace the palm oil used for frying
chips with sunflower oil, which contains less saturated fat.
In some cases, the magnitudes of the observed changes
seem to be modest, but it is important to keep in mind that
the period of observation was only 3 years.
Considering now the second effect related to the renewal
of the food supply, the results are more ambiguous. Indeed,
the launching of new products and the removal of existing
ones did not necessarily contribute to the improvement in
the nutritional quality of food purchases.
In the soft drink and potato chip sectors, the launching of
new products contributed to reducing the sales-weighted
mean content of ‘‘negative’’ nutrients. This effect con-
tributed to decreasing the sales-weighted mean sugar con-
tent in the soft drink sector by 2% and the sales-weighted
mean SFA content in the potato chips sector by 18 to 22%.
However, in the breakfast cereal and biscuits and cakes
sectors, it turns out that the renewal of the food supply
contributed negatively to achieving public health goals.
Indeed, new products with high market shares belonged to
categories with poorer nutritional quality compared to the
sector average (and vice versa for product withdrawal). The
consequence is that, over the observation period, this effect
contributed, for instance, to increases of approximately 3%
in the sales-weighted mean sodium content in breakfast
cereals and to decreases of approximately 2% in the sales-
weighted mean fiber content in biscuits and cakes.
How to explain why supply renewal does not system-
atically improve the nutritional quality of food purchases? If
we assume that consumers do not generally demand pro-
ducts with less salt or less fat and prioritize taste over health
[31], then it is understandable that food reformulation
initiatives are primarily made to improve the nutritional
quality of products already adopted by consumers, provided
that the changes in the nutrient content do not affect the
product taste (and then they remain small), and they are
silently implemented so as not to cause product rejection by
consumers. Rather, commercial and communication
strategies associated with the launching of new products
aim to attract new consumers by promoting taste and
pleasure rather than health. Then, integrating more stringent
nutritional constraints into the design of new products may
be considered ‘‘too risky’’ in some food sectors.
The third effect induced by consumer switching from
some products to others did not generally lead to an
improvement in the nutritional quality of food purchases
during the observation period. In several cases, consumer
switching offset the reformulation effect. For instance, in
the breakfast cereal sector, it was mainly the consumer
switching that explained the negative trend (from a public
health point of view) in the weighted average contents of
total fat and SFA. It is worth noting that our analysis does
not provide any insights to explain consumer changes. They
may have changed because they perceived some alteration
in taste after product reformulation, or they may have
moved for other exogenous reasons (food prices, economic
crisis, advertising, etc.).
Conclusion
Our results converge with other studies [28] that suggest
that policies targeting changes in the food supply may have
greater impact than those promoting changes in consumer
behavior. However, we have shown the complexity of the
food reformulation issue, as food companies may act dif-
ferently depending on the nutrient and food category.
These findings argue for the development of a proper
strategy for monitoring the nutrient composition of foods at
the brand level in order to evaluate the impact of food
reformulation initiatives more precisely [26,29,30].
Acknowledgements We want to thank the steering committee of Oqali
for providing the data used in the article. They also thank Florence
Stevenin and Oualid Hamza for their contributions to the matching of
the data sets and preliminary treatments. Both authors are responsible
for the design and implementation of the study, as well as the writing
and final content of the article. This research was funded by the EU
Horizon 2020 Program under Grant Agreement no. 633692
(SUSFANS).
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no competing
interests.
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