Supermarkets’ small-package candy sales dropped 43% after checkout-lane law

Berkeley, California, began enforcing a law in 2022 that keeps high-sugar foods out of checkout lanes at large stores. Sales of small-package candy, including candy bars, subsequently fell.

A study estimated 43% lower small-package candy sales at Berkeley supermarkets after the restrictions began. Researchers arrived at that figure by comparing sales before and after the enforcement of the law in Berkeley with sales over the same period in three other California cities.

The study, by researchers at Boston University and the University of California, Davis, was published in The Lancet Public Health.

The law does not restrict candy sales elsewhere in stores. The study found lower sales of small-package candy, such as bars and packets often sold at checkout, but no significant decline in candy sales overall.

“Our findings suggest that healthy checkout policies can help reduce impulsive purchases and even encourage healthier snack choices,” Justin White, a Boston University associate professor and co-author of the paper, said in a post from BU’s School of Public Health.

A proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration would add a small nutrition label to the front of food packaging that indicates the per-serving percentage of added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. The label would also show whether the amount of each was “low,” “medium,” or “high.”

The FDA aims to finalize the rule in December, and larger companies would have three years to comply and smaller companies four.