Carbon Footprint Labels in Food and Hospitality Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

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Satı A., Özgen I.

Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies, cilt.14, sa.1, ss.968-994, 2026 (TRDizin)

Özet

The use of carbon footprint labeling has increased significantly in terms of sustainability communication, however, there is a notable lack of a review of the literature focusing exclusively on food products, menus, and hospitality services. This study uses the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection to gather data from a total of 183 publications in English published from 1985 to 2025 and have included a specific search term related to carbon footprint and climate label in food and hospitality context. In addition to descriptive analyses, this study includes relational analyses using VOSviewer to examine the nature of researcher collaboration networks, the existence of thematic clusters in the field, and the field’s overall structural organization. The results indicate a significant increase in both the number of publications and of citations in publications since 2018. A significant portion of research output related to carbon footprint labeling in the food and hospitality sector is published in journals such as Sustainability, Journal of Cleaner Production, Food Policy, and International Journal of Hospitality Management. Regarding geographical distribution, the United Kingdom, China, and other European countries emerge as the leading contributors to the field. A total of six major themes were identified through both co-word and thematic analyses. Overall, the review indicates that the research area of carbon footprint labeling in food and hospitality has transitioned into a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment, yet it continues to demonstrate a degree of fragmentation and several underexplored areas. The study provides several theoretical and practical implications for the development of carbon footprint labeling in consumer-facing hospitality environments and identifies possible further research avenues.