*2.1. Outcomes and Data Sources*

In this study, the following indicators were described and compared between PL and BL packaged food categories (FCs):

(i) Healthiness: Data on the sodium and sugar contents (mg/100 g) and estimated Health Star Rating (HSR) were extracted from the Nutritrack database for the years 2015 to 2019. Nutritrack is a packaged food database managed by the National Institute for Health Innovation at the University of Auckland and includes information for packaged foods sold in four major NZ supermarket chains (New World, Four Square, Countdown and PAK'nSAVE). Annual cross-sectional supermarket surveys are undertaken using a systematic process at the same time each year (February to May) in Auckland, New Zealand. Photographs of packaged foods and beverages that display a nutrition information panel (NIP) are taken using a customized smartphone application and names, brands, labelling, ingredients and NIP information are entered into a secure online system [20]. Information is collected for ~75% of unique packaged foods and beverages purchased in NZ [8]. By 2018, only 21% of the NZ supermarket packaged products displayed the manufacturer-calculated HSR score on the pack [2]. Thus, for the purposes of this study, we estimated the HSR score for all products using the stepwise approach and the HSR Calculator 2018 provided by The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries; further details are available in Tawfiq et al. (2021) [5]. Estimated HSR scores were categorized as <3.5 stars (unhealthy) and ≥3.5 stars (healthy) for analyses [16].

