A study conducted by The George Institute for Global Health and Imperial College London found that switching food and drink purchases to more environmentally friendly alternatives could reduce household grocery greenhouse gas emissions by up to 26%. Making larger changes, such as switching to a vegetarian option from a frozen meat lasagne, could potentially reduce emissions by as much as 71%. To achieve this goal, on-pack labelling of greenhouse gas emissions for every packaged food product is necessary to help consumers make informed choices.
The study, which is the most detailed analysis of its kind ever conducted, used comprehensive data on greenhouse gas emissions and sales for tens of thousands of supermarket products typically found in Western diets. Lead author Dr Allison Gaines emphasized the need for significant changes in dietary habits to meet global emissions targets, especially in high-income countries like Australia, the UK, and the US. She also highlighted the lack of reliable information for consumers to identify more environmentally friendly options.
Researchers analyzed the emissions of annual grocery purchases from 7,000 Australian households by using data on ingredients, weights, and production life cycles. More than 22,000 products were categorized into major, minor, and sub-categories of foods to quantify emissions saved by switching within and between groups. Making switches within the same sub-categories of foods could result in a 26% reduction in emissions, equivalent to removing over 1.9 million cars from the road. Similarly, switches within minor categories of foods could lead to a 71% reduction.
The analysis revealed that meat products were the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions at 49%, despite representing only 11% of total purchases. In contrast, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes accounted for one-quarter of all purchases but were responsible for just 5% of emissions. The study also estimated that around one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the food and agriculture sector, with the combined health and environmental costs of the global food system totaling 10-14 trillion USD per year.
Prof Bruce Neal, Executive Director at The George Institute Australia and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Imperial College London, emphasized the urgent need to improve the sustainability of the food system to achieve a net-zero future. He highlighted the lack of a standardized framework for regulating the climate or planetary health parameters of the food supply and the limited adoption of voluntary measures by most countries. Prof Neal introduced a free app called ecoSwitch, based on the research findings, which allows shoppers to scan product barcodes and check their ‘Planetary Health Rating’ to see emissions information.
The George Institute plans to expand the ecoSwitch algorithm to include other environmental indicators such as land and water use, and biodiversity, and introduce the tool to other countries. While ecoSwitch is a valuable tool for providing environmental transparency to grocery shoppers, the ultimate goal is to have a mandatory display of a single, standardized sustainability rating system on all supermarket products. This initiative aims to empower consumers to make informed and environmentally friendly choices when shopping for groceries.
