Corrigendum for “A traffic light food labeling intervention increases consumer awareness of health and healthy choices at the point-of-purchase” [Prev. Med. 57 (2013) 253–257]

Abstract Background Obesity and chronic diseases could be prevented through improved diet. Most governments require at least one type of food labeling system on packaged foods to communicate nutrition information and promote healthy eating. This study evaluated adult consumer understanding and use of nutrition labeling systems in the US and Mexico, the most obese countries in the world. Methods Adults from online consumer panels in the US (Whites n = 2959; Latinos n = 667) and in Mexico (n = 3533) were shown five food labeling systems: 1. Nutrition Facts Table (NFT) that shows nutrients of concern per serving; 2. Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) that shows levels of nutrients of concern; 3. Multiple Traffic-Light (MTL) that color codes each GDA nutrient (green = healthy; yellow = moderately unhealthy; red = unhealthy); 4. Health Star Rating System (HSR) that rates foods on a single dimension of healthiness; 5. Warning Label (WL) with a stop sign for nutrients present in unhealthy levels. Participants rated each label on understanding (“easy”/“very easy to understand” vs “difficult”/“very difficult to understand”), and, for NFTs and GDAs, frequency of use (“sometimes”/“often” vs “never”). Mixed logistic models regressed understanding and frequency of use on indicators of labeling systems (NFT = ref), testing for interactions by ethnicity (US Latinos, US Whites, Mexicans), while controlling for sociodemographic and obesity-related factors. Results Compared to the NFT, participants reported greater understanding of the WL (OR = 4.8; 95% CI = 4.4–5.3) and lower understanding of the HSR (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.31–0.37) and the MTL (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.52–0.61), with similar patterns across ethnic subgroups. Participants used GDAs less often than NFTs (OR = 0.48; 95%CI = 0.41–0.55), with the greatest difference among US Whites (OR = 0.10; 95%CI = 0.07–0.14). Conclusions Understanding and use of the GDA was similar to that of the NFT. Whites, Latinos, and Mexicans consistently reported the best understanding for WLs, a FOPL that highlights unhealthfulness of a product. Therefore, a FOPL summary indicator, such as WLs, may be more effective in both the US and Mexico for guiding consumers towards informed food choices.

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Consumer awareness and status of food labeling in selected supermarkets of Puducherry: An exploratory study

International Journal of Advanced Medical and Health Research ◽

10.4103/ijamr.ijamr_48_17 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 36 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

SitanshuSekhar Kar ◽

Sejal Jain ◽

R Gomathi

Keyword(s):

Exploratory Study ◽

Food Labeling ◽

Consumer Awareness

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Examining the impact of numeric versus traffic light calorie labelling at the point-of-purchase on young adults’ food and beverage purchases

10.26226/morressier.5cdc25c8bf4ffc62054210c0 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Kirsten Lee

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Point Of Purchase ◽

Food And Beverage ◽

The Impact

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Impact of explained v. unexplained front-of-package nutrition labels on parent and child food choices: a randomized trial

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980016002676 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 774-785 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Dan J Graham ◽

Rachel G Lucas-Thompson ◽

Megan P Mueller ◽

Melanie Jaeb ◽

Lisa Harnack

Keyword(s):

Randomized Trial ◽

Saturated Fat ◽

Food Choices ◽

Control Group ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Consumer Awareness ◽

Nutrition Labels ◽

Calorie Content ◽

Parent Child

AbstractObjectiveThe present study investigated whether parent/child pairs would select more healthful foods when: (i) products were labelled with front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels relative to packages without labels; (ii) products were labelled with colour-coded Multiple Traffic Light (MTL) FOP labels relative to monochromatic Facts up Front (FuF) FOP labels; and (iii) FOP labels were explained via in-aisle signage v. unexplained.DesignParticipants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: (i) FuF labels with in-aisle signs explaining the labels; (ii) FuF labels, no signage; (iii) MTL labels with in-aisle signage; (iv) MTL labels, no signage; (v) control group, no labels/signage. Saturated fat, sodium, sugar and energy (calorie) content were compared across conditions.SettingThe study took place in a laboratory grocery aisle.SubjectsParent/child pairs (n 153) completed the study.ResultsResults did not support the hypothesis that MTL labels would lead to more healthful choices than FuF labels. The presence of FOP labels did little to improve the healthfulness of selected foods, with few exceptions (participants with v. without access to FOP labels selected lower-calorie cereals, participants with access to both FOP labels and in-aisle explanatory signage selected products with less saturated fat v. participants without explanatory signage).ConclusionsNeither MTL nor FuF FOP labels led to food choices with significantly lower saturated fat, sodium or sugar. In-aisle signs explaining the FOP labels were somewhat helpful to consumers in making more healthful dietary decisions. New FOP labelling programmes could benefit from campaigns to increase consumer awareness and understanding of the labels.

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Notice signs in food labeling

10.33920/vne-03-2111-05 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 30-40

Author(s):

M.A. Nikolaeva ◽

E.V. Smirnova ◽

A.A. Smirnova

Keyword(s):

Healthy Eating ◽

Food Products ◽

Food Labeling ◽

Information Support ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Healthy Nutrition ◽

Daily Diet ◽

New Type

The article discusses notice signs as a new type of information signs, which include the "Traffic Light" labeling. The necessity of using these signs on the labeling is shown. It has been established that the widespread introduction of the "Traffic Light" notice sign into the production labeling will improve the information support of food buyers and increase their ability to make a competent choice of food products that provide healthy nutrition. As a result, consumers will be able to purchase groceries in stores that will improve the structure of the daily diet, taking into account the principles of healthy eating.

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Effect of Face-to-Face Education on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward “Traffic Light” Food Labeling in Isfahan Society, Iran

International Quarterly of Community Health Education ◽

10.1177/0272684x20916612 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 0272684X2091661

Author(s):

Zahra Esfandiari ◽

Maryam Mirlohi ◽

Jila M Tanha ◽

Marjan Hadian ◽

Sayed Isa Mossavi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Premature Mortality ◽

Wilcoxon Test ◽

Food Labeling ◽

Noncommunicable Diseases ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Face To Face ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

The Impact ◽

Knowledge Attitudes And Practices

Emerging noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) with premature mortality are one of the major concerns in health supervising organizations of the world. High intake of energy, salt, sugar, fat, and trans fatty acids are introduced as dietary risk factors of NCDs. The status of food risk factors is presented in Traffic Light (TL) food labeling through colors of red, yellow, and green as the signs of stop, wait and watch and go, respectively. This stepwise interventional study examined whether TL education can result in choosing healthier food via assessing the impact of face-to-face educational sessions on knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 673 respondents toward TL food labeling through a self-administered and structured questionnaire. Paired t test or alternatively Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the influence of education in total scores of knowledge, attitudes, and practices in test–retest. Results indicated that before education, the average of the scores for the knowledge, attitudes, and practices was 1.003 ± 0.69, 10.97 ± 1.86, and 1.60 ± 1.84, respectively. After education, the scores were increased to 8.72 ± 3.11, 15.95 ± 2.64, and 8.42 ± 1.69. Significant differences in the scores of the respondents were observed before and after education ( p < .05). This study revealed that the intervention of education had positive effect on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the studied population. Even though general awareness about the food risk factors of NCDs existed, special education is required to make public TL and food labeling information usage as an actual guidance for every food item in Iran.

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Consumers' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding Front-of-package (FOP) labels at the point of purchase

10.21203/rs.3.rs-129608/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Samira Pourmoradian ◽

Mohammad Kermanshahi ◽

Mahsa Chaeipeima ◽

Tohid Farazkhah ◽

Arezoo Roudsari

Keyword(s):

Food Additives ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Food Prices ◽

Food Labeling ◽

Food Labels ◽

Food Label ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Effective Measure ◽

Promotion Policies ◽

Point Of Purchase

Abstract Background: Food labeling is one of the information promotion policies designed to support necessary information of the products that consumer purchase. However, food labeling giving incentives to the food industry to reformulate their products with healthier nutrients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted as a point-of-purchase survey on 550 shoppers in chain stores in Tabriz, Iran. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire that assessed the respondents' knowledge, perception, and behaviors towards the information on food labels. Results: The results showed that 91.8% of the consumers had knowledge about food label information. Among all the nutritional information included on food labels, the participants were most aware of the information about the calories and fat content of the foods. Most of the respondents (84.7%) paid attention to food labels to observe the expiration and production dates, 51.6% were looking at food prices in food labels, and only 8.7% of the participants read food labels to obtain information about the food additives and artificial color contents. Conclusion: Our study suggests that food labeling could be an effective measure in health policy when the consumers' nutrition knowledge and awareness regarding how to use and interpret the information on food labels increases.

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Nudging Healthier Choices in a Hospital Cafeteria: Results From a Field Study

Health Promotion Practice ◽

10.1177/1524839917740119 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (6) ◽

pp. 925-934 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mary Carol Mazza ◽

Linda Dynan ◽

Robert M. Siegel ◽

Anita L. Tucker

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Field Study ◽

The United States ◽

Additional Contribution ◽

Traffic Light ◽

Consumer Awareness ◽

Compensatory Behavior ◽

Light System ◽

Cash Register ◽

Positive Effect

More than two thirds of adults and one third of children are overweight or obese in the United States. These trends have led to initiatives to provide information that supports informed choices. Traffic light labeling has been shown to increase consumer awareness and encourage healthy selections. This article contributes to the literature on healthy choices by comparing the additional contribution of a number of interventions used in combination with traffic light labeling. We conducted a 21-month field study in a workplace cafeteria. We analyzed cash register receipts, focusing on sales of beverages and chips. We found that the traffic light system was effective. The addition of caloric information to traffic light labeling had a positive effect on the purchase of healthy chips. However, other interventions appeared to produce more harm than good, essentially wiping out the benefits from traffic light labeling. These findings suggest that although it is possible to improve on traffic light labeling with selective interventions, caution is in order as some interventions may trigger compensatory behavior that results in the purchase of unhealthy items.

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