Evaluating the impact of food labeling in a vocational school: an open prospective pilot study

Background: In October 2017, France adopted the Nutri-Score label as the official food label to display on industrial food packaging. School mass catering is recognized as a substantial contributor to individual diet.  Objective: Evaluating the impact of the food label Nutri-score on food choices of students at a school self-service restaurant and at home.  Methods: Longitudinal open prospective pilot study conducted in the self-service restaurant of a vocational school in France in 2019. After a survey among guests (T0), food products labeled with the Nutri-Score were presented to consumers on the menus at the entrance and directly on the food dishes at the counters (T1). The intervention was supplemented by a counseling service on healthy diet conducted by a nutritionist (T2).  Results: We observed a decrease in students’ consumption of sweet products (57%). Similarly, the self-service catering staff observed at the end of T1 a decrease in food leftovers categorized as less healthy. The implementation of the counseling service at T2 was significantly associated with a higher consumption of fruits and vegetables (P < .001), healthier eating habits at home (P < .001), more home cooking (P < .02), and an increased will to check for the presence of the Nutri-Score labels on supermarket food items (P < .001).  Conclusions: After the display of the Nutri-Score label, we observed an improvement in students’ diets. However, results were significant only when the Nutri-Score was associated with a counseling service.