Portuguese Retailers’ Motivations to Adopt Front of Pack Nutrition Labels: A Qualitative Analysis

Nutrition is an important food marketing differentiation criterion. There is growing evidence of the relation between diets and health conditions. Thus there is a potential conflict between industry and public health authorities over the use of nutrition labels. Understanding industry motivations for simplified nutrition labels use is paramount to scrutinize market dynamics, improve label policy design and its evaluation. The aim of this research is to ascertain how retailers perceive consumer’s attitudes to nutrition labels and what motivates their use. We conducted in-depth semi-structure interviews with senior managers in leading Portuguese retail chains. Our results suggest that retailers’ adopt FOP to aid their customers’ food choices, as a response to competitors’ moves and preempt labeling regulations. However, respondents were concerned on whether nutrition labels added value to their business, has a negative impact on sales in certain food categories and may hinder relations with suppliers.Nutrition labels, retailers, semi-structured interviews, content analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18, M31, M38, M14,

Effects of environmental impact and nutrition labelling on food purchasing: An experimental online supermarket study

Nutrition labels and ecolabels can support consumers to make healthier and more sustainable choices, and the former is now widespread. But there is no information on the impact of ecolabels in the presence of nutrition labels. The aims of this study were primarily to examine whether (1) ecolabels are effective at promoting sustainable purchasing behaviour if presented alongside nutrition labels; (2) and secondarily, whether nutrition labels are effective at promoting healthier purchasing if presented alongside ecolabels. Participants (N = 2730) visited an experimental online supermarket platform, and were randomised to see products with (1) environmental impact labels only; (2) nutrition (NutriScore) labels only; (3) both environmental and nutrition labels; (4) no labels. Linear regressions compared the mean environmental impact scores (EIS; primary outcome) and health scores of products in participants’ shopping baskets across each condition. Compared to control (no labels) there were significant reductions in the EIS when environmental impact labels were presented: Alone (−1.3, 95%CI: −2.3 to −0.4) or With nutrition labels (−2.0, 95%CI: −2.9 to −1.0), with no evidence of differences in effectiveness between these two conditions. There was no evidence of an impact of nutrition labels on either the EIS or the healthiness of purchases, both when nutrition labels were shown alone and when ecolabels were also present. Environmental impact labels may be effective at encouraging more sustainable purchases alone or when used alongside nutrition labels. This adds to the evidence base on the feasibility and effectiveness of environmental impact labelling as an important measure to change dietary behaviour to improve planetary health

The Decline in Consumer Use of Food Nutrition Labels, 1995-2006

This report examines changes in consumers’ use of nutrition labels on food packages between 1995-96 and 2005-06. The analysis finds that, although a majority of consumers report using nutrition labels when buying food, use has declined for most label components, including the Nutrition Facts panel and information about calories, fats, cholesterol, and sodium. By contrast, use of fiber information has increased. The decline in label use is particularly marked for the cohort of adults less than 30 years old.Nutrition Facts panel, Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, nutrition label use, Diet and Health Knowledge Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Agricultural and Food Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing,

Knowledge on Nutrition Labels for Processed Food: Effect on Purchase Decision among Indonesian Consumers

This study was conducted to observe the relationship between consumers’ knowledge on nutrition labels and the purchasing behavior for processed food products among Indonesian consumers. A crosssectional study was conducted in August‒September 2018 in five different cities of three provinces (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi). Data were obtained from 400 adult consumers by self-administered questionnaires. The results showed that almost 70% of consumers in Indonesia check food labels; however, from that number only 37.5% paid attention to the nutrition label of a food product prior to making a purchase decision; this was most probably due to their knowledge on nutrition labels that was still poor, as shown by the mean score of 7.7 out of 14 questions (55%). In terms of food groups, milk and dairy products were deemed important by the consumers and the nutrition labels were often checked. When it comes to making a purchase decision, almost all of the consumers (96.0%) had decided to buy food products with nutrition labels as compared to those without. Furthermore, when compared to similar products also bearing nutrition labels, consumers deemed the claims of low fat (28.7%) and low sugar (22.6%) as a sign that the products are healthier and have a better nutrition profile. Knowledge on nutrition labels (OR=1.139; 95% CI:1.016‒1.276; p=0.025) and purchase decision on products with nutrition labels (OR=3.426; 95% CI:1.220‒9.623; p=0.019) were significantly associated with purchase decision for healthier processed food. This study has shown the importance of increasing consumers’ knowledge on nutrition labels in order to achieve a larger impact on food selection, nutrition, and health

TRENDS IN U.S. WHEAT-BASED FOOD CONSUMPTION: NUTRITION, CONVENIENCE, AND ETHNIC FOODS

This study identifies U.S. consumers' use of food nutrition labels on wheat-based foods; consumer attitudes toward the importance of taste, price, and nutrition in choosing wheat-based snack foods; and consumer knowledge of Middle-Eastern wheat-based foods. A survey of U.S. primary grocery shoppers indicated that most respondents believed it was important that their diets contained wheat-based food products. A majority of respondents indicated that fat content was the most important item on food nutrition labels when making a wheat-based food purchase decision. A majority of respondents indicated that taste was the most important factor when making wheat-based snack food purchases. Most respondents were not familiar with Middle-Eastern wheat-based foods.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

CONSUMER USE OF NUTRITION LABELS ON PACKAGED MEATS

Consumer perceptions of the importance of nutritional labeling of fresh meats and knowledge of nutritional terms have been presented in the Journal of Food Distribution Research (Piedra, et al 1995). This article presents follow up information on consumer reported uses of nutritional labels on packaged meats and the specific nutrients that the consumers check for on packaged meats. The results indicate that consumers use nutrition labels to check for desirable dietary components and to compare nutrient content among meats as well as to check for the presence of undesirable dietary components in packaged meats.Consumer/Household Economics,

The design of nutrition labels

The main objective of this dissertation was to expose the process involved in the design and the actual design of a nutrition label for restaurant’s menus. The increasing overweight and obesity rates are a major concern for health organizations and governments. In order to fight this epidemic, the Commission of the European Communities outlined a Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related to health issues determining, among others, that providing nutritional information to consumers is a critical factor that may influence healthier food choices. Since the habit of eating out-of-home is related to the increasing overweight and obesity rates as well, the disclosure of nutritional information in restaurants (or mass caterers in general) can provide guidance to consumers while choosing their food. The process of designing a nutrition label for restaurant’s menu was divided in to parts. The first part addressed research on communication, infographics and on the state-of-the-art of nutrition labels. The second part, and supported in the collected information and case studies’ analysis, was related with determining the type of information to include in the label and the nutritional criteria in which it was going to be based. It also included the actual design decisions related to the model of a nutrition label for restaurants’ menus, to be software generated. As future work it was pointed the necessity of testing it within the market and consumers and to develop an interactive solution for providing customized nutritional guidance.O principal objectivo desta dissertação consistia em expor o processo envolvido no design de um rótulo nutricional assim como desenvolver o seu próprio design. O aumento das taxas de excesso de peso e de obesidade são uma das grandes preocupações das organizações de saúde e dos governos. De forma a combater esta epidemia, a Comissão Europeia delineou o documento Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related to health issues que determina, entre outras decisões, que a provisão de informação nutricional aos consumidores é um factor crítico para influenciar a escolha de alimentos mais saudáveis. Dado que o hábito de consumir refeições fora de casa também está relacionado com o aumento das taxas de excesso de peso e de obesidade, a provisão de informação nutricional em restaurantes (ou estabelecimentos de restauração colectiva) pode orientar os consumidores na escolha das suas refeições. O processo de desenhar um rótulo nutricional para incluir no menu de restaurantes foi divido em duas partes. A primeira parte envolveu pesquisa nas áreas de comunicação, infografia e do estado da arte da rotulagem nutricional. Na segunda parte, e com base na informação reunida e análise de casos de estudo, foi determinado o tipo de informação a incluir no rótulo e os critérios nutricionais em que se fundamentaram. Incluiu também as decisões relativas ao design do modelo de rótulo nutricional para menus, que será gerado digitalmente. Como trabalho futuro foi apontada a necessidade de testar o rótulo nutricional no mercado e juntos dos consumidores e também a de desenvolvimento de uma solução interactiva para a provisão de orientação nutricional personalizada

Evaluating and improving understanding and use of current UK nutrition labels among older adults

Background: New formats of UK nutrition labels were mandatorily introduced on-pack and for products sold online, from 2014. However, there is a lack of evidence concerning older adults’ understanding and use of this information and the extent to which these may be improved with nutrition label education. With respect to older adults, this research aimed to (1) explore use of this information and potentially related consumer characteristics and (2) evaluate objective understanding of the current UK nutrition labels, before developing and evaluating a pilot education intervention targeting label understanding. Methods: An online survey was developed to evaluate understanding of current UK nutrition labels and their use among older adults aged 50 years or older. Exploration of these adults’ engagement with online nutrition information was also undertaken using “Think aloud sessions”. Following a systematic review of the effect of nutrition label education on consumers’ use and understanding of this information, a single-arm pre post-intervention study design was used to evaluate a pilot educational intervention among community service-users. Results: Frequent use of nutrition labels during purchases was reported by 51% of all survey respondents (n=181) and predicted by increasing levels of personal motivation (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.1, 1.2), nutrition knowledge (OR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.5) as well as self-rated (OR 1.2 95% CI: 1.0, 1.5), but not objective (OR 1.1, 95% CI: 0.9, 1.3), understanding of this information. Respondents had difficulties understanding the meaning of specific elements of the current UK nutrition labels, including “Reference Intakes (RI)” terminology. Infrequent use of online nutrition information could be explained by a variety of factors related to supermarket website use and information presentation. Finally, the developed educational intervention increased levels of participants’ (n = 30) objective understanding of current UK nutrition labels (quiz score out of 5 MD=1.4, 95% CI: -2.1, -0.8), as well as participants’ confidence in their use of this information to make healthier food choices (using a 7-point scale, MD = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.6). Conclusion: Older adults’ understanding of current UK nutrition labels may be improved with nutrition label education. Implications for policy and practice are given. Further research into the impact of education on older adults’ nutrition label understanding, use and dietary intakes is now warranted

An Evaluation of Three Nutrition Labeling Formats for Restaurant Menus

This study evaluated three menu nutrition labeling formats: calorie only information, a healthy symbol, and a nutrient list. Daily sales data for a table-service restaurant located on a university campus were recorded during a four-week period from January to February 2013 to examine changes in average nutritional content of the entrees purchased by customers when different nutrition labels were provided. A survey was conducted to assess the customers’ use of nutrition labels, their preferences among the three labeling formats, their entree selections, their cognitive beliefs with regard to healthy eating, and their demographic characteristics. A total of 173 questionnaires were returned and included in data analysis. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analyses were performed using SAS. The results showed that favorable attitudes toward healthy eating and the use of nutrition labels were both significantly associated with healthier entrée selections. Age and diet status had some effects on the respondent’s use of nutrition labels. The calorie only information format was the most effective in reducing calories contained in the entrees sold, and the nutrient list was most effective in reducing fat and saturated fat content of the entrees sold. The healthy symbol was the least effective format, but interestingly enough, was most preferred by respondents. The findings provide support for future research and offer implications for policy makers, public health professionals, and foodservice operations