Food label information that is otherwise mandatory for physical products is missing from online supermarkets in Australia, which may pose a health and safety risk for consumers, a new study suggests.
before they decide to commit their cash," says Damian Maganja, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. Candidate in food policy at The George Institute for Global Health and UNSW Medicine & Health.
They found product information is mostly lacking in online supermarkets. Only around half of all food products had allergen labeling and NIPs , while just over a third had ingredients listed. However, country-of-origin labeling was comprehensive, appearing on 93% of food product pages, despite being a more recent requirement.
Across products that made label information available somewhere on the product page, Coles almost always made NIPs, ingredients, and allergen information immediately visible. Meanwhile, the visibility of these labels was far less complete for Woolworths. Their sample of product pages immediately displayed NIPs just 2% of the time, while ingredients were shown 19% of the time, and none showed allergens.
"If food labeling online is optional, it will vary considerably at best," Mr. Maganja says."While both major supermarkets can do better on their own, consistent and explicit government-mandated standards will better ensure the entire retail sector is focused on providing shoppers with the information they need before they spend their money."
Still, the researchers say the most effective way to ensure progress in food labeling practices online would be to explicitly extend the regulations that govern physical products to all online retailers that sell"The guiding principles should remain the same regardless of whether the product is sold in-store or online," Mr. Maganja says."That is—information about a food product should be available to consumers before purchase and displayed prominently and visibly.
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