Nutri-Score labelling in the out-of-home food sector: evidence on effectiveness from a large, randomised control trial in UK restaurant settings

Amy Finlay; Andrew Jones; Rebecca Evans; Zoé Colombet; James Garbutt; Rosanna May Maletta; Martin O’Flaherty; Zoi Toumpakari; Nick Townsend; Eric Robinson

doi:10.64898/2026.07.29.26359233

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Nutri-Score labelling in the out-of-home food sector: evidence on effectiveness from a large, randomised control trial in UK restaurant settings

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Nutri-Score labelling in the out-of-home food sector: evidence on effectiveness from a large, randomised control trial in UK restaurant settings

Amy Finlay, Andrew Jones, Rebecca Evans, Zoé Colombet, James Garbutt, Rosanna May Maletta, Martin O’Flaherty, Zoi Toumpakari, Nick Townsend and Eric Robinson

medRxiv

31/07/2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.29.26359233

Abstract

Nutritional Labelling

Food Policy

Menu Labelling

Appetite

Over half of UK adults eat food prepared out-of-home (OOH) weekly and the poor nutritional profile of OOH food contributes to ill health. Nutri-Score is a form of interpretative labelling which assigns food products a value of A (healthiest) to E (least healthy) based on nutritional quality, and inclusion on menus could be a public health policy option to reduce obesity. This is the first real-world Randomised Control Trial to test the effectiveness of Nutri-Score alongside calorie labelling on food menus in UK OOH settings.

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Title: Nutri-Score labelling in the out-of-home food sector: evidence on effectiveness from a large, randomised control trial in UK restaurant settings
Creators - without role: Amy Finlay - Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool
Andrew Jones - School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University
Rebecca Evans - Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool
Zoé Colombet - Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool
James Garbutt - Department for Health, University of Bath
Rosanna May Maletta - University of Greater Manchester, School of Psychology
Martin O’Flaherty - Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool
Zoi Toumpakari - School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
Nick Townsend - School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
Eric Robinson - Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool
Publication Details: medRxiv
Grants: ES/W007932/1, Economic and Social Research Council (United Kingdom, Swindon) - ESRC
Identifiers: 9983720608841
Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Academic Unit: School of Psychology; UoA 4: Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Resource Type: Preprint
Electronic publication date: 31/07/2026
Comment: This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

Nutri-Score labelling in the out-of-home food sector: evidence on effectiveness from a large, randomised control trial in UK restaurant settings

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