Different front-of-pack (FOP) labelling systems have been developed in Europe by industry and organisations concerned with health promotion. A study (n 2068) was performed to establish the extent to which inclusion of the most prevalent FOP systems – guideline daily amounts (GDA), traffic lights (TL), GDA+TL hybrid (HYB) and health logos (HL) – impact consumer perceptions of healthiness over and above the provision of a FOP basic label (BL) containing numerical nutritional information alone. The design included within- and between-subjects factors. The within-subjects factors were: food (pizzas, yogurts and biscuits), healthiness of the food (high health, medium health and low health) and the repeated measurements under BL and test FOP label conditions. The between-subjects factors were: the system (GDA, TL, GDA+TL hybrid, HL), portion size (typical portion size and a 50 % reduction of a typical portion) and country (the UK, Germany, Poland and Turkey). Although the FOP systems tested did result in small improvements for objective understanding under some conditions, there was little difference between the provision of an FOP label containing basic numerical nutritional information alone or between the various systems. Thus, any structured and legible presentation of key nutrient and energy information on the FOP label is sufficient to enable consumers to detect a healthier alternative within a food category when provided with foods that have distinctly different levels of healthiness. Future research should focus on developing greater understanding of the psychological and contextual factors that impact motivation and the opportunity to use the various FOP systems in real-world shopping settings.

The perception of healthiness and/or safety, tenderness, juiciness and aroma or flavour are important quality criteria that influence the decision of a consumer to purchase beef. Beef production systems represent the combined and interacting effects of genotype, gender, age at slaughter and nutrition before slaughter. The present paper highlights recent information on how beef production systems can be modified to enhance the tenderness, flavour and healthiness of beef. Carcass management post-slaughter has a larger effect on meat tenderness than gender, genotype or feeding systems. Optimum ‘pasture to plate’ management systems are being established to ensure beef tenderness. The chemistry underlying beef flavour is complex, with in excess of 140 components identified in cooked beef volatiles. Flavour of beef is influenced by cattle diet, but assessment of flavour by a taste panel is subject to the previous experiences and preferences of the panellists. Modern lean beef can have an intramuscular fat concentration of 25–50 g/kg and can be considered a low-fat food. As the quantity of grass in the diet of cattle is increased, there is a decrease in saturated fatty acid concentration, and an increase in the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid concentrations. It is concluded that there is opportunity to exploit the diet of cattle to produce tender flavoursome beef that has an increased conjugated linoleic acid concentration, a lower fat concentration and a fatty acid profile more compatible with current human dietary recommendations.