Food in the news: effects of exposure to information about ultra-processed vs. high in nutrients of concern foods on consumer perceptions and intake

Thomas Gough; Jenna R Cummings; Rebecca Evans; Scott Hill; Andrew Jones; Eric Robinson

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2025.108217

Food in the news: effects of exposure to information about ultra-processed vs. high in nutrients of concern foods on consumer perceptions and intake

Appetite. 2025 Jul 3:214:108217. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.108217. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Thomas Gough¹, Jenna R Cummings², Rebecca Evans², Scott Hill², Andrew Jones³, Eric Robinson²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Electronic address: tomgough@liverpool.ac.uk.
² Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
³ School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.

PMID: 40617256
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.108217

Abstract

Media reporting of the associations between intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and negative health outcomes has become common. The objective was to examine the impact of exposure to public facing information about UPFs on consumers in a laboratory experiment. In a mixed-design, we used a methodology that resulted in participants (N = 96: mean age = 46.28, 49 % female) being exposed to one of three mock news articles detailing: (1) the negative health outcomes associated with UPF consumption and its unnatural manufacturing process (UPF article); (2) the negative health outcomes associated with consumption of foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS article); or (3) online food shopping trends (control article). Immediately after exposure to the news article, participants were given ad-libitum access to UPFs (which were also HFSS) and non-UPFs (which were also not HFSS). Intake of UPFs and non-UPFs, and ratings of disgust, naturalness, and pleasantness of UPFs and non-UPFs were measured after exposure to articles. Results showed that perception ratings and intake of UPFs and non-UPFs did not reliably differ between conditions. However, participants in the UPF and HFSS conditions reported that the article they were exposed to increased concerns of consuming both UPFs and HFSS foods (relative to the control) and there was some evidence that rated pleasantness of consumed UPF/HFSS foods was reduced. In conclusion, public facing information about UPFs (or HFSS foods) likely affects consumer perceptions and avoidance of UPFs/HFSS foods, but may not impact on immediate food intake.

Keywords: Eating behaviour; Food intake; Public facing information; Ultra-processed foods.