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Cost-effectiveness of mandating calorie labels on prepared foods in supermarkets

This study determines the cost-effectiveness of the requirement for chain food establishments—including supermarkets—to display calorie labels on prepared (i.e., ready-to-eat) foods since 2018.

Grummon AH, Barrett JL, Block JP, McCulloch S, Bolton A, Dupuis R, Petimar J, Gortmaker SL. Cost-effectiveness of mandating calorie labels on prepared foods in supermarketsAm J Prev Med. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.10.007.

Abstract

Introduction

The US has required chain food establishments—including supermarkets—to display calorie labels on prepared (i.e., ready-to-eat) foods since 2018. Implementation of this supermarket calorie labeling policy reduced purchases of prepared foods from supermarkets, but it remains unknown whether the policy is cost-effective.

Methods

In 2023-2024, this study applied the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) microsimulation model to estimate the effects of the supermarket calorie labeling policy on health, costs, and cost-effectiveness over 10 years (2018-2027) for the US population. The model projected benefits overall and among racial, ethnic, and income subgroups. Sensitivity analyses varied assumptions about the extent to which consumers replace calorie reductions from prepared foods with calories from other sources (i.e., caloric compensation).

Results

From 2018-2027, the supermarket calorie labeling policy was projected to save $348 million in healthcare costs (95% Uncertainty Interval [UI]: $263-426 million), prevent 21,700 cases of obesity (95% UI: 18,200-25,400), including 3,890 cases of childhood obesity (95% UI: 2,680-5,120), and lead to 15,100 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained across the US population (95% UI: 10,900-20,500). The policy was projected to prevent cases of obesity and childhood obesity across all racial, ethnic, and income groups. The policy was projected to be cost-saving when assuming low and moderate caloric compensation and cost-effective when assuming very high caloric compensation.

Conclusions

A policy requiring calorie labels on prepared foods in supermarkets was projected to be cost-saving or cost-effective and lead to reductions in obesity across all racial, ethnic, and income groups.

Keywords
calorie labels; food policy; cost-effectiveness; obesity; simulation


Funding

This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to Jason P. Block (R01 DK115492) and the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health (R01 HL14662501), the JPB Foundation (Grant no 1085) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, U48 DP006376). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH, JPB Foundation, or CDC. The funders had no role in the study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; writing the manuscript; or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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