'Traffic light' ecolabels on fast food menus could nudge us towards more sustainable choices

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-11 01:00

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US scientists say traffic-light-style ecolabels on fast food menus could help us make more sustainable choices. The team tested a range of ecolabels on burger or sandwich menus among 6,210 US adults. These included labelling foods with a low climate impact only, labelling foods with a high climate impact only, grading foods on a scale of climate impact from A-F, a traffic light system applied to all foods, and a QR code with no climate information, for comparison. They found the traffic light labelling was most effective, leading people to choose meals with 30% lower greenhouse gas emissions from the sandwich restaurant, 15% lower greenhouse gas emissions, and slightly healthier meals from the burger joint, compared to the QR code label. These labels may be an effective way of nudging us towards more sustainable fast food choices, the authors conclude.

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Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

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conference: JAMA Health Forum

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA

Funder: Funding for thisworkwas provided by the National Institutes of Health (R01DK139327), funded in 2024. Additional funding was provided by the Bloomberg American Health Association (J.A.W. and A.C.T.). Dr Tucker was supported by grant T32DK062707 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Dr Barquera Guevara was supported by grant T32HL007024 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.

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