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Packaging design is a communication device and a critical component in branding strategy, and has relevance for food policy. Presently, packaging-related nutrition policy initiatives focus on the role of regulated claims, nutrition information panels and front-of-pack nutrition labels to help guide consumer food choices and address high prevalences of discretionary and ultra-processed food consumption in many countries. However, these nutrition labelling systems are not optimized as public health policy tools as many consumers do not use them to inform their food choices. Visual communication design theory posits that a designer orders the elements and principles of design into hierarchies that prioritize certain elements over others, and that some of these elements are more dominant and given more emphasis than others. The overall design of the package thereby directs consumer attention to some aspects of pack design (e.g., characters, contents of the package) and away from others (e.g., nutrition details). Dual processing frameworks propose that food decisions are made with the interplay between automatic and rational thinking processes. Packaging designs affect whether consumers rely predominantly on automatic or rational thinking to select a food. This narrative review outlines the role of food packaging design and how it impacts the clear communication of nutrition aspects of food products and how the use of nutrition information by consumers to make decisions may depend upon design structures in packaging. This article attests that nutrition scientists and policy makers should incorporate visual communication design into research on the food packaging as a public health promotion tool. A stronger focus on the communication of regulated front-of-pack nutrition information can be made with a re-evaluation of the hierarchy of elements in the front-of-pack design enabling consumers to make healthier decisions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Kelly, McCann, Chapple, Woods and Russell.)

With the food system evolving, it is not clear how the nutrition and on-pack claims of toddler foods have been impacted. Data on the trends in Australia are lacking, so we sought to determine the changes in the nutrition and on-pack claims of toddler-specific packaged foods over time. A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted using the Mintel Global New Products Database. The number of toddler-specific foods increased from 1996 to 2020. Over time, a lower proportion of meals and snacks were classified as "ultra-processed", but a higher proportion of snacks were classified as "discretionary". Meals launched after 2014 had higher median values for energy, saturated fat, and sugar than those in earlier years. Toddler snacks launched after 2014 had lower median values for sodium, and higher median values for fat, saturated fat, and sugar than those in earlier years. The mean number of total claims per package increased over time for snacks, with an increase in unregulated claims for both meals and snacks. Public health action is needed to ensure that the retail food environment for young children is health-promoting, including stringent and clear regulations for on-pack claims, and compositional guidelines and guidance on how to reduce the number of ultra-processed foods for toddlers.

Objective: To analyse nutritional and packaging characteristics of toddler-specific foods and milks in the Australian retail food environment to identify how such products fit within the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) and the NOVA classification., Design: Cross-sectional retail audit of toddler foods and milks. On-pack product attributes were recorded. Products were categorised as (1) food or milk; (2) snack food or meal and (3) snacks sub-categorised depending on main ingredients. Products were classified as a discretionary or core food as per the ADG and level of processing according to NOVA classification., Setting: Supermarkets and pharmacies in Australia., Results: A total of 154 foods and thirty-two milks were identified. Eighty percentage of foods were snacks, and 60 % of foods were classified as core foods, while 85 % were ultraprocessed (UP). Per 100 g, discretionary foods provided significantly more energy, protein, total and saturated fat, carbohydrate, total sugar and Na (P < 0·001) than core foods. Total sugars were significantly higher (P < 0·001) and Na significantly lower (P < 0·001) in minimally processed foods than in UP foods. All toddler milks (n 32) were found to have higher energy, carbohydrate and total sugar levels than full-fat cow's milk per 100 ml. Claims and messages were present on 99 % of foods and all milks., Conclusions: The majority of toddler foods available in Australia are UP snack foods and do not align with the ADG. Toddler milks, despite being UP, do align with the ADG. A strengthened regulatory approach may address this issue.