Healthwashing: Overview of the company practices and overview of consumer practices

Abstract

In Europe today, one in two individuals is overweight, and obesity rates have doubled within the past decade. While the rise of ultra-processed foods since the 1970s has played a major role, this public health crisis has been intensified by sophisticated marketing strategies designed to promote consumption unhealthy food. Over time, these marketing practices have given rise to a phenomenon known as healthwashing.

This thesis explores consumer perspectives on healthwashing, a misleading marketing approach that promotes food products as healthy through nutrition claims and visual cues and highlight The urgent need for stronger regulatory measures to curb misleading food marketing. Building on existing literature that defines the concept, the study adopts a qualitative methodology based on interviews to capture consumers’ experiences, perceptions, and awareness of these deceptive strategies. The findings reveal not only how effectively healthwashing influences food choices but also the ways in which consumers attempt to resist it.