Consumer Research Needs from the Food and Drug Administration on Front-of-Package Nutritional Labeling

Americans have increasingly busy lifestyles and desire quick and nutritious food choices. To provide consumers with at-a-glance nutrition information, many food manufacturers have introduced front-of-package (FOP) nutritional labeling systems. The purpose of this review is to reach out to the marketing and public policy discipline by identifying research needs on FOP systems not only to aid decision making for federal agencies, but also to help advance research on this important topic. We describe the many FOP systems, the FDA\u27s regulatory background and approach to FOP systems, recent experimental research and gaps in knowledge, and research needs on FOP nutrition labeling

Is Simpler Always Better? Consumer Evaluations of Front-of-Package Nutrition Symbols

Consumers of packaged goods products in the United States recently have faced an onslaught of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition symbols and icons, including the controversial “Smart Choices” single summary indicator. In a between-subjects experiment with 520 adult consumers, the authors compare effects of the Smart Choices (SC) icon, the more complex Traffic Light–Guideline Daily Amounts (TLGDAs) icon, and a no-FOP icon control for a nutritionally moderate food that qualifies for the SC icon. Drawing from principles of heuristic processing and halo effects, the authors predict and find that the SC icon can lead to positive (and potentially misleading) nutrient evaluations and product healthfulness when compared with the TL-GDA icon or no-FOP icon control. When the Nutrition Facts Panel is not available, the TL-GDA icon results in substantially greater nutrition accuracy scores than with the SC icon or control. The authors also find that nutrition consciousness is more likely to moderate effects related to the Nutrition Facts Panel than the FOP nutrition icon information. Implications are offered for public health officials, nutrition researchers, and food manufacturers, as the Food and Drug Administration considers FOP nutrition alternatives for use in the United States

Marketers’ Use Of Alternative Front-Of-Package Nutrition Symbols: An Examination Of Effects On Product Evaluations

How front-of-package (FOP) nutrition icon systems affect product evaluations for more and less healthful objective nutrition profiles is a critical question facing food marketers, consumers, and the public health community. We propose a conceptually-based hierarchical continuum to guide predictions regarding the effectiveness of several FOP systems currently used in the marketplace. In Studies 1a and 1b, we compare the effects of a broad set of FOP icons on nutrition evaluations linked to health, accuracy of evaluations, and purchase intentions for a single product. Based on these findings, Studies 2 and 3 test the effects of two conceptually-different FOP icon systems in a retail laboratory in which consumers make comparative evaluations of multiple products at the retail shelf. While there are favorable effects of each system beyond control conditions with no FOP icons, results show that icons with an evaluative component that aid consumers’ interpretations generally provide greater benefits (particularly in product comparison contexts). We offer implications for consumer packaged goods marketers, retailers, and the public policy and consumer health communities

New Spontaneous Model of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

We report the first known example of spontaneous, naturally occurring fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) in a mammal. The Southeast Asian mouse deer of the genus _Tragulus_ (Artiodactyla: Tragulidae) have an osseous sheath covering the lower back and upper thigh region consistent with the clinical definition of FOP. This heterotophic bone deposition is sex related apparently with a genetic basis - it only occurs in males and is lacking in females; it is present in all adults males, including both wild obtained and zoo bred animals. _Tragulus_ may offer the opportunity to examine many of the disease's most significant attributes experimentally

Reação de genótipos provenientes de uma população de mapeamento para resistência a murcha de Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens e Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli em feijoeiro-comum.

Avaliou-se a ocorrência de murcha de curtobacterium (Cff) e murcha de fusarium (Fop) em plantas de feijoeiro provenientes de retrocruzamentos de duas cultivares, Ouro Branco e CNFP 10132, nas dependências da Embrapa Arroz e Feijão em Santo Antonio de Goiás-GO, sob condições de casa de vegetação. Foram utilizados 12 genótipos diferentes inoculados com os isolados Cff 33, Cff 25 e Fop 101, Fop 102. Os sintomas das doenças foram quantificados e seus resultados analisados estatisticamente. As avaliações das médias dos genótipos tanto inoculados com Cff, quanto com Fop apresentaram diferenças significativas em relação à resistência de cada um

Simplified conservative testing method of touch and step voltages by multiple auxiliary electrodes at reduced distance

Grounding systems (GSs) must be tested periodically in order to maintain the touch voltage (TV) and step voltage (SV) below a safe value in all of the zones of the installation. Measurements of the ground resistance and of the TV and SV are typically done by the fall-of-potential (FoP) method, locating the auxiliary current electrode at remote distance to test the effective behavior of the GS. In urban areas, it could be very complicated or impossible to install the auxiliary current electrode as required, not having area around with sufficient accessibility. At this aim, this paper describes a methodology of using multiple current electrodes at short distances, modifying the classic FoP practice, so that the measurements of TV and SV are always conservative. The adequacy of a GS is verified if the values of the TV and SV, tested inside and in the vicinity of the GS, are below the permissible limits, regardless if they are true or conservatively increased. Thus, the measured TV and SV by the suggested method, always conservative, allow verifying the adequacy of GSs, in the cases where it is impossible to locate the remote auxiliary electrode

To See or Not to See: Do Front of Pack Nutrition Labels Affect Attention to Overall Nutrition Information?

Citation: Bix, L., Sundar, R. P., Bello, N. M., Peltier, C., Weatherspoon, L. J., & Becker, M. W. (2015). To See or Not to See: Do Front of Pack Nutrition Labels Affect Attention to Overall Nutrition Information? Plos One, 10(10), 20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139732Background Front of pack (FOP) nutrition labels are concise labels located on the front of food packages that provide truncated nutrition information. These labels are rapidly gaining prominence worldwide, presumably because they attract attention and their simplified formats enable rapid comparisons of nutritional value. Methods Eye tracking was conducted as US consumers interacted with actual packages with and without FOP labels to (1) assess if the presence of an FOP label increases attention to nutrition information when viewers are not specifically tasked with nutrition-related goals; and (2) study the effect of FOP presence on consumer use of more comprehensive, traditional nutrition information presented in the Nutritional Facts Panel (NFP), a mandatory label for most packaged foods in the US. Results Our results indicate that colored FOP labels enhanced the probability that any nutrition information was attended, and resulted in faster detection and longer viewing of nutrition information. However, for cereal packages, these benefits were at the expense of attention to the more comprehensive NFP. Our results are consistent with a potential short cut effect of FOP labels, such that if an FOP was present, participants spent less time attending the more comprehensive NFP. For crackers, FOP labels increased time spent attending to nutrition information, but we found no evidence that their presence reduced the time spent on the nutrition information in the NFP. Conclusions The finding that FOP labels increased attention to overall nutrition information by people who did not have an explicit nutritional goal suggests that these labels may have an advantage in conveying nutrition information to a wide segment of the population. However, for some food types this benefit may come with a short-cut effect; that is, decreased attention to more comprehensive nutrition information. These results have implications for policy and warrant further research into the mechanisms by which FOP labels impact use of nutrition information by consumers for different foods

Distributive laws for Lawvere theories

Distributive laws give a way of combining two algebraic structures expressed as monads; in this paper we propose a theory of distributive laws for combining algebraic structures expressed as Lawvere theories. We propose four approaches, involving profunctors, monoidal profunctors, an extension of the free finite-product category 2-monad from Cat to Prof, and factorisation systems respectively. We exhibit comparison functors between CAT and each of these new frameworks to show that the distributive laws between the Lawvere theories correspond in a suitable way to distributive laws between their associated finitary monads. The different but equivalent formulations then provide, between them, a framework conducive to generalisation, but also an explicit description of the composite theories arising from distributive laws.Comment: 30 pages, presented at CT2011, lightly edited 2019 for publication in Compositionalit

Flight Opportunities 2019 Accomplishments

This booklet highlights the work being done by the Flight Opportunities Program (FOP) for community outreach events