The energy and nutritional content of snacks sold at supermarkets and coffee shops in the UK



Marty, Lucile, Evans, Rebecca ORCID: 0000-0001-8894-5938, Sheen, florence, Humphreys, gabrielle ORCID: 0000-0002-0762-7864, Jones, Andrew, Boyland, emma ORCID: 0000-0001-8384-4994 and Robinson, Eric ORCID: 0000-0003-3586-5533
(2021) The energy and nutritional content of snacks sold at supermarkets and coffee shops in the UK. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 34 (6). pp. 1035-1041.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Snacking is associated with a higher daily energy intake and dietary guidelines recommend snacks of no more than 200 kcal for adults and 100 kcal for children. The present study examines the energy content, nutritional quality and price of single-serving snack food products sold by major supermarket and coffee shop chains in the UK.<h4>Methods</h4>Energy content, nutritional content and price of single-serving snack products were recorded in 2019 via the websites of 14 major chains (seven supermarkets; seven coffee shops).<h4>Results</h4>The mean energy content of all eligible snack products (n = 2283) was 186 kcal [95% confidence interval (CI) = 182-190]. The mean energy content of the snack products sold at coffee shops (n = 379; 282 kcal [95% CI = 269-295]) was significantly higher than the energy content of the snack products sold at supermarkets (n = 1904; 167 kcal [95% CI = 164-170]). Seventy nine % of supermarket snacks exceeded energy recommendations for children and 32% for adults. In coffee shops, 91% exceeded recommendations for children and 73% for adults. Forty one % of snacks were high in fat, 42% were high in saturated fat, 39% were high in sugar and 7% were high in salt. Cheaper snack products were more likely to be of lower nutritional quality.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The high proportion of snack products that do not meet public health recommendations for energy content may contribute to the association between snacking and increased energy intake. Public health measures to increase the availability and reduce the price of snack products that meet public health energy content recommendations may reduce population-level obesity.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: coffee shop, energy content, nutritional quality, snacking, supermarket
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 27 Apr 2021 07:23
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2023 15:45
DOI: 10.1111/jhn.12880
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3120637