Changing The Placement Of Nutrition Labels May Help Consumers Make Healthier Choices

New research shows that placing nutrition labels on the front of food packages could help to be more effective at enabling healthier food choices then where they are currently placed.

Researchers at the University of Surrey found that front of package nutrition labels helped to enable consumers to make healthier food choices.

"Front of package food labeling is an important tool in helping consumers to make healthier choices and to encourage the industry to provide healthier foods," lead study author professor Monique Raats said in a news release.

For the study, they analyzed data from over 2,000 adult consumers in four European countries that were presented with three categories of food, including biscuits, pizza and yogurt.

They examined the effect of overlaying a basic front of package label that displayed only values for energy and the four key risk nutrients sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt, with four other systems: Guideline Daily Amounts, traffic light colors, a hybrid version of Guideline Daily Amounts and traffic light colors and a health logo.

In recent years, a number of different front of package labels have been developed by industry and health promotion organizations. The majority of labels include values for energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt, but some also include percentage Guideline Daily Amounts or traffic light colors to help consumers' understanding of the numerical values. In some cases a logo is included on the label to indicate that the food is a healthier choice.
In all three food categories, study participants were able to differentiate between the healthiest, middle and least healthy varieties, with all the label systems and only small differences were observed between them.

Researchers believe the addition of traffic light colors, Guideline Daily Amounts or health logos to basic nutrient information may have a greater impact in real-world settings and that further research is needed to establish their potential to change shopping behavior.