A traffic light system rating the eco-friendliness of foods on a menu leads to more people choosing vegetarian dishes, a study suggests. Research by the University of Bristol involved 1,399 adults being shown mocked up food delivery app menus featuring three burritos - one beef, one chicken and one vegetarian - with different accompanying information.
All menus contained a photograph of each item, as well as the calorie count, a Fairtrade logo, a spice indicator and the price, which was the same for all three. One mock-up featured the 'social nudge' of a gold star and the words 'most popular' placed alongside the vegetarian burrito.
Another menu had a traffic light system rating the eco-friendliness of each burrito - with beef scoring a red five, chicken scoring a yellow three, and the vegetarian option marked as a green one. Participants in the study were shown one of the three menu mock-ups and asked to pick a burrito option as if they were normally ordering food.
