We examined the impact on food selection of the number of (i) healthier and (ii) less healthy snack foods available in an online study of 1,509 adults. Offering additional less healthy options was twice as likely to affect the foods selected than offering additional healthier options. This suggests that removing less healthy as opposed to adding healthier food options could have greater impact on encouraging healthier selections.
Availability of healthier vs. less healthy food and food choice: an online experiment. Pechey, R., & Marteau, T. M. BMC Public Health
Six English worksite cafeterias increased the proportions of healthier cooked meals, snacks, cold drinks and/or sandwiches available. Healthier options were defined as those with fewer calories (kcal). When cafeterias offered these healthier options, there was a 7% reduction in calories purchased from targeted food categories. Increasing the proportion of lower calorie foods in worksite cafeterias seems a promising intervention for healthier consumption.