The development of a single health-endorsement logo for South Africa
Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
Objective: To develop health-endorsement logos (HEL) for food products indicating healthy choices based on the South African nutrient profile model and to pilot test these logos with consumers.
Design: Multistage mixed-methods design.
Setting: Cape Town, South Africa.
Subjects: Nine focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with adult
consumers to explore what types of HEL are preferred and why. Based on the
findings, ten HEL were designed by a graphic design team. A modified Delphi
technique, conducted with experts in the fields of nutrition and food science, was
employed to eliminate lowest-scoring HEL and to improve the design of the
remaining logos. Participants from the initial FGD participated in pilot testing the
improved logos.
Results: Participants from FGD (n 67) were positive about a single HEL, stating it
would make food labelling less confusing as they did not understand the various
HEL used. Participants indicated the logo should include wording related to
‘healthy choice’ or ‘better choice’ and pictures/symbols related to health and/or
food. During two rounds of scoring and comments by experts (n 19), five logos
were eliminated and the design of the remaining five improved. Three of five
remaining logos received overall rankings of 3·08/5, 3·28/5 and 3·39/5,
respectively, during FGD (n 36) in the pilot-testing phase.
Conclusion: HEL were designed and consumer tested. Three designs were
submitted to the national Department of Health to consider for implementation,
after further testing, as a tool to assist in addressing the high incidence of
non-communicable diseases in South Africa.
Description
CITATION: Koen, N., Wentzel-Viljoen, E. & Blaauw, R. 2018. The development of a single health-endorsement logo for South Africa. Public Health Nutrition, 21(8): 1444-1454, doi:10.1017/S1368980018000034.
The original publication is available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition
The original publication is available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition
Keywords
Health-endorsement logos, Nutrition -- Health promotion services -- South Africa, Food -- Labeling -- South Africa
Citation
Koen, N., Wentzel-Viljoen, E. & Blaauw, R. 2018. The development of a single health-endorsement logo for South Africa. Public Health Nutrition, 21(8): 1444-1454, doi:10.1017/S1368980018000034