Supermarkets are allocating 98.5% of their high-prominence shelf space to unhealthy foods, according to a new study. The survey of 36 supermarkets across Dublin also found that 68% of overall shelf space is allocated to unhealthy foods - confectionery, sugary drinks, sweet biscuits and savoury snacks - compared to only 32% for fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables.
The survey, entitled 'Availability and prominence of shelf space allocated to healthy and unhealthy foods in supermarkets in urban Ireland', was conducted by UCD alongside the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and was the first of its kind in Ireland at this scale, according to Professor Eileen Gibney, director of UCD's Institute of Food and Health.
"We looked at the location of foods within the supermarkets", said Professor Gibney. "A lot of the foods that are higher in fat or sugar and salt are more likely to be in prominent shelf space."
The report reads: "Of the shelf space measured in this study, 98.5% of the high-prominence shelf space was filled with unhealthy foods, with 1.5% allocated to healthy food. Fresh fruit and vegetables filled most of the low prominence shelf space measured, 70.7%.
Between October 2021 and February 2022, a team of researchers led by Sinead O'Mahony, Reformulation Task Force Manager within the FSAI, surveyed the 36 supermarkets and measured not only the constituencies of food on the shelf but also their positions of prominence within a store. Three of Ireland's five leading supermarket chains participated anonymously in the research.
"The supermarkets worked closely with us and gave us access", said Professor Gibney. "They want to try and make their environments better in any way that they can. So we didn't find any resistance at all. They were very welcoming of the findings."
Previous studies have shown a correlation between social deprivation and obesity, heart disease and other health-related issues. This research found no connection between allocation of junk food on shelves and socially deprived areas.
"We didn't see a difference between the socio-economic deprived areas and other areas in Dublin - in terms of where the food was on the shelf or the composition of the food on the shelf", said Professor Gibney. However, one anonymous supermarket in a socially deprived area had a "higher proportion of unhealthy food being offered in areas of higher deprivation", with 83% of its overall shelf space stocked with unhealthy foods compared to 76% in the more affluent areas.
The researchers were not surprised by their discoveries in general. "We were expecting those statistics. Studies like this have been done around the world and if you look at the findings from Australia or New Zealand and Belgium, you will find very similar results", noted Professor Gibney.
The implications of the report, according to its authors ,highlight how the retail food environment can influence consumer food choice and dietary intakes. "Food availability will influence your choice. Studies show that if you make small interventional changes to the food sale environment, you can change food intake", Professor Gibney noted.
In 2018, health officials introduced a voluntary code, under the Government's 'A Healthy Weight for Ireland: Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016-2025', that restricuted the placement of junk food at shop check-outs. This new research, suggests Professor Gibney, gives the industry a baseline around which it can "implement policies or changes to find a better balance in stores and make the healthy choice an easy choice for consumers."
