**3. Results**

*3.1. Comparison of PL and BL Products in 2019*

3.1.1. Healthiness: Mean Sugar and Sodium Content and Proportion of Products with Estimated HSR ≥ 3.5

Tables 1 and 2 describe and compare the indicators of healthiness between PL and BL products by food category in 2019. Overall, PL products had statistically significantly lower mean sodium content than BL products. However, there were significant differences in mean sodium content between PL and BL products for only two of the 19 food categories assessed (canned fish and canned vegetables, both with lower means for PL products). Overall, there were no differences in the mean sugar content of PL and BL products, and a significant difference in mean sugar content between PL and BL products for only one of the 14 food categories assessed, i.e., canned fruit, with a lower mean for PLs (Table 1).

**Table 1.** Mean (standard deviation) of sodium and sugar content of branded and private label supermarket products in 2019, by food category and overall.



**Table 1.** *Cont.*

SD: standard deviation; BL: branded label; PL: private label. \* *p*-values of Student *t*-tests for comparison of means of two independent samples. †: Comparisons between means were not performed when PL had n < 30 products with information on sodium or sugar contents. –Nutrient content not assessed as food category does not represent relevant source of the nutrient.

> Overall, there was a statistically significantly higher proportion of PL products with an estimated HSR ≥ 3.5 (48.9%) compared to BL products (38.5%; Table 2, 2019 column). However, there were statistically significant differences in the proportion of products with an estimated HSR ≥ 3.5 between PL and BL for just three of the 21 food categories assessed, i.e., PL canned fruit, and savoury spread and dips had a higher proportion of products with HSR ≥ 3.5. Cereal bars had a lower proportion of products with HSR ≥ 3.5 (Table 2). In 2019, the proportion of PL products with an estimated HSR ≥ 3.5 ranged from 0% (for sweet biscuits, cakes/muffins, ice-cream and mayonnaise/salad dressings) to 100% (for everyday sliced breads, canned fish, canned fruit and peanut butter and other nut-based spreads). Within BL products, the proportion of products with estimated HSR ≥ 3.5 ranged from 0% (for cakes/muffins; mayonnaise/salad dressings) to 98.9% (for canned vegetables) (Table 2).

**Table 2.** Number and proportion of branded and private label products with an estimated HSR of > 3.5 by year (2015–2019), food category and overall.



**Table 2.** *Cont.*

HSR: Health Star Rating: BL: branded label; PL: private label. † *p*-values of chi-square tests for linear trend (linear-by-linear associations using Mantel–Haenzel tests). Comparisons of changes in proportions within private and branded labels in the period 2015–2019. ‡: Zero products with estimated HSR ≥ 3.5. \* Pearson chi-square tests: *p* < 0.05; \*\* *p* < 0.005; \*\*\* *p* < 0.001. Comparisons of proportions between private and branded labels in 2019. Missing for estimated HSR-2015–2019 (n): savoury biscuits (19); sweet biscuits (101); everyday sliced breads (20); other breads (38); cakes/muffins: ready-to-eat (28); breakfast cereals: ready-to-eat (19); cereal bars (13); cheese: everyday cheeses (21); ice-cream (17); canned fish (38); fruit—canned in syrup/juice (13); nuts—salted (13); vegetables—canned (37); vegetables—pickled (67); processed meats-I (26); processed meats-II (18); processed meats-III (15); mayonnaise and salad dressings (56); pasta sauces (19); spreads I—savoury (27); spreads II—peanut butter and other nut-based spreads (4); crisps and snacks (18).
