Abstract/Summary

The past decades have seen the development of a multitude of sustainability-related food labels aimed to reduce the existing information asymmetry between food practitioners and consumers regarding the sustainability impact on the food supply chain. Sustainability-related food labels can correct market failures and contribute to a more sustainable world. This manuscript provides a discussion on the effectiveness of sustainability-related food labels on achieving its primary goal of promoting a more sustainable world alongside recent research examples. We start with the sustainable development goals in the food area and the challenge of defining these labels. Subsequently, costs and benefits and regulatory aspects from both the demand and supply sides are outlined, for market actors and in view of the sustainable development goals that the labels serve. Finally, we discuss the questions that the state of research raises and discuss implications for food practitioners, consumers, and policy makers and identify future research avenues.