Investigation into sustainability labelling of food and implications for the consumer and the food industry

食品质量和安全恐慌以及食品生产中不良做法的故事对消费者对他们所吃食品和食品生产商的信任产生了有害影响。研究表明，通过食品包装上的QR码等工具提高食品链信息的透明度是增加信任和愿意为有这种保证的食品支付更多费用的一种方式（Spence et al., 2018）。农业用地和劳动力面临的压力越来越大，人们越来越关注农业和粮食部门对水、土壤和空气质量的影响；关键的挑战仍然是以可持续的方式生产充足、优质的粮食。因此，需要一个能够以简洁的方式向消费者传达可持续性信息的系统。目前，食品行业缺乏一个全面的系统来准确衡量一种食品对地球的影响。虽然确实存在一些衡量标准，但它们通常侧重于单一元素，例如碳排放。然而，其影响要广泛得多，应包括水的使用、土地的使用、氮的释放、种植、加工、包装和运输食品的能源，以及与生产中包装和粮食损失有关的排放和材料。多因子度量需要许多度量来捕获各种贡献，并将其转换为消费者可以理解的系统。研究人员正在围绕一套关键的可持续性指标制定稳健的指标，并开发一种考虑所有上游和下游过程的“生命周期分析”方法，这方面取得了重大进展。我们建议对标签系统进行调查，如“包装正面”营养轮。这可以提供一个机会，在食品包装上显示与可持续性指标有关的透明信息，以帮助与消费者沟通。制定和实施包装正面标签系统，传达与可持续食品生产有关的透明指标，将展示食品系统透明度方面的文化变革和行动计划，是食品工业、消费者和社会之间关系持久变化的有力象征。我们的假设是：一个全面的食品包装标签系统，向消费者传达环境可持续性信息，将导致消费者对食品的信任和支付意愿的增加。该研究的目标是：-对营养，食品安全和环境可持续性方面的现有信息系统进行批判性评估，以确定有关食品链中可持续性的最紧迫主题的信息；探索哪些要素需要包括在我们的研究中-使用混合定性方法，包括访谈和焦点小组，以确定行业和消费者的需求，愿望，愿望，障碍等选定的要素，如生产成本，安全保证，碳足迹，废物等要考虑在系统中-探索特征的知识，用于新型包装正面标签系统的选定食品的现有可持续性/碳足迹测量的易用性和准确性-考虑需要实施的检查和认证系统，以提供此类保证和透明度，并为食品生产者进行成本效益分析-与消费者一起开展共同设计研讨会，以开发包装正面标签关键要素的不同标签选项原型透明的可持续性系统-通过在线调查，与消费者一起评估可选择的系统，以了解他们的看法、理解、信任、购买意愿、支付意愿等

Food quality and safety scares as well asstories of poor practices in food production havehad a detrimental impact on consumer trust in the food they eat as well as on the food producers. Studies have shown that transparency of food chain information via tools such as QR codes on food packaging is one way of increasing trust and willingness to pay more for food with such assurances (Spence et al., 2018). With increasing pressure on agricultural land andlabour along with growing concerns relating to the impact of farming and the food sector on water, soil and air quality; the key challenge remains the production of sufficient, good quality food in a sustainable manner. Therefore,a system that can communicate sustainability information to the consumer in a succinct manner is needed. Currently the food industry lacks a comprehensive system to accurately measure the effects a food item has on the planet. Though some metrics do exist, they typically focus on a singular element, such as carbon emissions. However the impact is much wider and should include water use, land use, nitrogen released, energy for cultivation, process, package and transport foods, as well as emissions and materials associated with packaging and food lost in production. The multifactorial measurements require many metrics to capture the various contributions and to translate this into a system the consumer would understand. Major progress is being made by researchers to develop robust metrics around a suite of key sustainability indicators and to develop a 'lifecycle analysis' approach that considers all upstream and downstream processes. We are proposing the investigation of a labelling system such as the "front of pack" nutrition wheel. This could offer an opportunity for transparent information relating to sustainability indicators to be displayed on food packaging to aid communication with the consumer. The development and implementation of a front of pack labelling systemthat conveys transparent metrics relating to sustainable food production will be a demonstration of a culture change and action planning in respect to transparency in food systems, a powerful symbol of lasting change in the relationship between food industry, consumers and society. Our hypothesis is that: A comprehensive, front of pack labelling system for food, that conveys environmental sustainability information to the consumer, will lead to an increase in consumer trust in food and willingness to pay.T he objectives of the research are:- To conduct a critical appraisa lof existing information systems in Nutrition, Food SafetyandEnvironmentalSustainability to ascertain information on the most pressing topics around sustainability in the food chain; to explore which elements need to be included in our research- Using a mixed qualitative methods approach including interviews and focus groups, to identify industry & consumer needs, wants, aspirations, barriers etc. to the selected elements such as cost of production, safety assurance, carbon footprint, waste etc to be considered in the system- To explore knowledge of the characteristics, ease of use and accuracy of existing sustainability/carbon fo otprint measures of a selected food product for use in a novel front of pack labelling system- To consider the inspection and certification systems that would need to be implemented to provide such assurances and transparency and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for food producers-Conduct co-design workshops with consumers to develop different prototypes of labelling options of the key elements of a front of pack labelling transparent sustainability system-Evaluate alternative systems with consumers for their perceptions, understanding, trust, intention to buy, wiliness to pay etcusing an online survey