Health-washing of ultraprocessed products on Instagram: prevalence and strategies in an emerging market

Dublin Core

Title

Health-washing of ultraprocessed products on Instagram: prevalence and strategies in an emerging market

Subject

MARKETING
PUBLICIDAD DIGITAL
AMBIENTE ALIMENTARIO
ALIMENTOS ULTRAPROCESADOS
REDES SOCIALES
BIBLIOGRAFIA NACIONAL QUIMICA
2023

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of health-related cues as part of the digital marketing of ultrapro cessed foods on Instagram among food companies in Uruguay. Methods: Cross-sectional exploratory study. All content posted by 118 Instagram accounts of companies promoting ultraprocessed foods in Uruguay over 6 months (from August 2020 to February 2021) was retrieved. The content of 1,893 Instagram posts was coded considering visual and textual cues conveying health-related associations. The number and percentage of posts, including cues within each category and theme, were calculated. Results: More than half of all posts contained at least 1 visual or textual cue conveying health-related asso ciations. Three main themes emerged: i) product composition, ii) healthy lifestyle, and iii) health and health benefits. The prevalence of health-related cues differed dramatically across product categories, ranging from 100% to 1.5%. Conclusions and Implications: Health-washing constitutes an integral part of the digital marketing of ultraprocessed foods on Instagram in Uruguay. The inclusion of health-related cues can potentially under mine public health efforts targeted at reducing consumption of these foods. These findings suggest that strict and comprehensive regulations on the digital marketing of such products are needed in policies pro moting healthy eating habits globally.

Creator

Natero, Virginia
Gugliucci, Vanessa
Machín, Leandro
de León, Carolina
Otterbring, Tobias

Source

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, v.55, n°11, 2023. -- pp. 815−822

Publisher

Elsevier

Date

2023

Rights

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Format

PDF

Extent

8 p.

Language

Inglés

Type

Artículo

Identifier

10.1016/j.jneb.2023.09.001

Document Item Type Metadata

Original Format

PDF
Date Added
November 10, 2023
Collection
Bibliografía Nacional Química
Item Type
Document
Citation
Ares, Gastón et al., “Health-washing of ultraprocessed products on Instagram: prevalence and strategies in an emerging market,” RIQUIM - Repositorio Institucional de la Facultad de Química - UdelaR, accessed November 17, 2025, https://riquim.fq.edu.uy/items/show/6738.