The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Consumer Interaction with Sustainability Labelling on Food Products: A Narrative Literature Review
Open accessAbstract
Sustainability labelling on food products can help consumers make informed purchasing decisions and support the urgent transition to sustainable food systems. While there is a relatively robust body of evidence on health and nutrition labelling, less is known about the effectiveness of sustainability labelling in facilitating sustainable food choices. This paper investigates the impact of sustainability labelling on consumer understanding, attitudes, and behaviour to support a more nuanced, detailed, and holistic understanding of the evidence. Using a narrative literature review methodology, the paper assesses studies covering environmental, social, and/or animal welfare aspects of sustainability labelling on food products. We found that consumer understanding of sustainability information is often limited, which could hinder behaviour change. While sustainability labelling can influence consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviours, evidence from real consumer settings tends to show small effect sizes. Consumers are generally willing to pay more for sustainability-labelled products, and organic labelling often leads to the highest reported willingness to pay. The review emphasises the importance of trust, suggesting a preference for labelling backed by governments or public authorities. Sustainability labelling that uses intuitively understandable cues has an increased impact, with visual aids such as traffic light colours showing promise. We conclude that further research is needed in real-world settings, using representative populations and exploring the influence of demographic factors, values, and attitudes.
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![Figure 2 Consumer Interaction with Sustainability Labelling. Adapted from Grunert, K. G., & Wills, J. M. (2007) [13].](/paper-figures/955b3b32dacd47c7ac01cf6686f43b69/consumer-interaction-with-sustainability-labelling-on-food-products-a-narrative-figure-2.jpg)
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“Cook et al. (2023) also observed that consumers are generally willing to pay moderately more for products with environmental and personal health-related credentials.”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Cook et al., 2023
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1 retracted
Potter, C., Pechey, R., Cook, B., Bateman, P. A., Stewart, C., Frie, K., Clark, M., Piernas, C., Rayner, M., & Jebb, S. A. (2022) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2022.106312 · Cited by 47
Self-citationRetractedPublication bias in the social sciences: Unlocking the file drawer
Franco, A., Malhotra, N., & Simonovits, G. (2014) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1255484 · Cited by 1,542
Sustainability labels on food products: consumer motivation, understanding and use
Grunert, K. G., Hieke, S., & Wills, J. (2014) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.12.001 · Cited by 1,334
A review of European research on consumer response to nutrition information on food labels
Grunert, K. G., & Wills, J. M. (2007) · Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1007/s10389-007-0101-9 · Cited by 1,324
Consumer understanding and use of nutrition labelling: a systematic review
Cowburn, G., & Stockley, L. (2005) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1079/phn2005666 · Cited by 994
Health effects of climate change: an overview of systematic reviews
Rocque, R. J., Beaudoin, C., Ndjaboue, R., Cameron, L., Poirier-Bergeron, L., Poulin-Rheault, R.-A., Fallon, C., Tricco, A. C., & Witteman, H. O. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046333 · Cited by 932
What motivates consumers to buy organic food in the UK?
Makatouni, A. (2002) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/00070700210425769 · Cited by 424
Loo, E. J. V., Caputo, V., Nayga, R. M., Seo, H., Zhang, B., & Verbeke, W. (2015) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.07.011 · Cited by 361
The use of eco‐labels: a review of the literature
Galarraga, I. (2002) · European Environment · doi:10.1002/eet.304 · Cited by 357
Leire, C., & Thidell, Å. (2005) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2004.12.004 · Cited by 340
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Behavioral Intention to Purchase Sustainable Food: Generation Z’s Perspective
Jakubowska, D., Dąbrowska, A. Z., Pachołek, B., & Sady, S. (2024) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su16177284 · Cited by 63
Nguyen, M. H., & Nguyen, D. T. (2025) · Journal of Consumer Marketing · doi:10.1108/jcm-07-2024-7005 · Cited by 56
World dairy system sustainability: a milk quality perspective
Priyashantha, H. (2025) · Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management · doi:10.3389/fsrma.2025.1572962 · Cited by 29
Taillie, L. S., Wolfson, J. A., Prestemon, C. E., Bercholz, M., Ewoldt, L., Ruggles, P. R., & Hall, M. G. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0306123 · Cited by 28
Zhang, Y., Lu, J., Cui, K., Wang, H., Su, J., Zhang, W., & Jiang, W. (2025) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.144465 · Cited by 26
Metadata
- Authors
- Cook, B., Costa Leite, J., Rayner, M., Stoffel, S., van Rijn, E., & Wollgast, J.
- Affiliations
- Independent Researcher, Oxford OX4 3UD, UK
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), 21027 Ispra, Italy
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Basel (CH)
- Joint Research Centre (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Wollgast, Jan
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-09-02
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 3837
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10489983
- OpenAlex
- W4386410611
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 60 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 18
- FWCI
- 6.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (EX2022D594371-101, CT-EX2022D594537-101)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Organic Food and Agriculture
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Keywords
- sustainability labelling, food products, consumer behavior, willingness to pay, organic labeling, consumer trust, traffic light labeling, environmental labelling, social labeling, animal welfare labels, sustainable food choices, consumer understanding, purchasing behaviour
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animal Welfare, Cues, Government, Group Processes, Product Labeling
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