Assessment of the Sustainable Level of Vending Machine Products in an Italian University

The aim of the analysis is to assess whether vending machines placed in a university context provide not only healthy but also environmentally and socially sustainable food products. Content analysis was performed to evaluate the sustainability of food products by examining the types of sustainability claims (both graphical and textual) found on food packaging. The analysis revealed a significant lack of sustainable food products sold from vending machines. This lack was confirmed by the low quantity of graphical and textual sustainability claims on packaging. Legislative, contractual, and economic issues were identified as the most plausible reasons for the lack of sustainable products. Demonstrating that vending machines do not provide sustainable food is useful for establishing a baseline for the development of subsequent legislative, environmental, behavioral, and product-related interventions in the university context.