Can front-of-pack labelling schemes guide healthier food choices? Australian shoppers’ responses to seven labelling formats

Watson, Wendy L.; Kelly, Bridget; Hector, Debra; Hughes, Clare; King, Lesley; Crawford, Jennifer; Sergeant, John; Chapman, Kathy

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2013.09.027

Cited by 103 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…No other studies have compared the validity of the Australian HSR with any other FOPL or nutrient profile model. There is, however, evidence supporting the use of interpretive FOPL systems such as star ratings or Traffic Light labelling in preference to the Daily Intake Guide and nutrition information panels for enabling consumers to determine healthier products (8,12,23,24) . More extensive validity testing has been undertaken on the WXYfm model and NuVal (25)(26)(27) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A nutrient profiling assessment of packaged foods using two star-based front-of-pack labels

Carrad

Louie

Yeatman

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To compare two front-of-pack nutrition labelling systems for the assessment of packaged foods and drinks with Australian Dietary Guidelines. Design: A cross-sectional nutrient profiling assessment. Food and drink products (n 20 225) were categorised into scoring levels using criteria for the Institute of Medicine (IOM) three-star system and the five-star Australian Health Star Rating (HSR). The effectiveness of these systems to categorise foods in accordance with Australian Dietary Guidelines was explored. Setting: The study was conducted in Australia, using a comprehensive food database. Subjects: Packaged food and drink products (n 20 225) available in Australia. Results: Using the IOM three-star system, the majority (55 %) of products scored the minimum 0 points and 25·5 % scored the maximum 3 points. Using HSR criteria, the greatest proportion of products (15·2 %) scored three-and-a-half stars from a possible five and 12·5 % received the lowest rating of a half-star. Very few products (4·1 %) scored five stars. Products considered core foods and drinks in Australian Dietary Guidelines received higher scores than discretionary foods in all food categories for both labelling systems (all P < 0·05; Mann-Whitney U test), with the exception of fish products using IOM three-star criteria (P = 0·603). The largest discrepancies in median score between the two systems were for the food categories edible oils, convenience foods and dairy. Conclusions: Both the IOM three-star and Australian HSR front-of-pack labelling systems rated packaged foods and drinks broadly in line with Australian Dietary Guidelines by assigning core foods higher ratings and discretionary foods lower ratings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A nutrient profiling assessment of packaged foods using two star-based front-of-pack labels

Carrad

Louie

Yeatman

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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“…A body of research [1] has been focused on what type of labelling can assist consumers to make healthier food choices. A number of studies [2,3,4,5] have compared food labels for their ability to be used by consumers to accurately rank foods within a category according to their health benefit. In general, these studies have indicated that evaluative labels (labels that provide an overall rating, such as traffic lights) better enable people to complete this task than reductive labels (labels that provide quantitative measures of one or more nutrients such as salt or sugar content).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of consumer attitude towards nutrition and health statements on food labels in South Australia

Riley¹,

Bowen²,

Krause³

et al. 2016

FFHD

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Background: For many decades, Australia has required a Nutrient Information Panel to be included on food packaging, usually on the back of products. Recently, two regulated, voluntary systems were introduced for use on food packaging in Australia: the Health Star Rating system and nutrient content and health claims. Nonetheless, the scope and potential for these new initiatives to achieve their purpose is partly depdendant on their perception by consumers. This report describes the results of a population based survey of South Australian adults about how various elements of food labels are used to inform their purchase decisions. Methods:A survey was conducted using a random stratified sampling technique in people aged 15 years and older in the Australian state of South Australia. All surveys were administered faceto-face to 3005 people between September 2015 and December 2015. Data was weighted by the inverse of the individual's probability of selection, as well as the response rate in metropolitan and country regions and then reweighted to benchmarks from the June 2014 Estimated Resident Population calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Results:The response rate for the survey was 57.3%. Most respondents to the survey rated their own dietary intake as 'healthy' (61.5%) or 'extremely healthy' (9.1%). Aside from price, country of origin was nominated as the most important information on the food label of a food bought for the first time (by 35.0%), followed by the ingredient list (21.6%) and claims about nutrition (20.9%). The response to this question was markedly different by age group, with almost half (48.3%) of those aged 55 years or over considering that country of origin was the most important information to look for. For the youngest age group (15-34 yrs), 28.4% considered the ingredient list was the most important information, 26.5% considered claims about nutrition to be most important, and 22.2% considered country of origin to be the most important information on the food label. The Nutrition Information Panel was used to guide the purchase decision for a new breakfast cereal by more than half of respondents (50.8%), while a statement on the front of the pack about how the food effects health was used to guide the purchase decision of only 8.9%. While only 22.1% disagreed (16.4% disagreed somewhat, 5.7% disagreed completely) with the statement that 'the Nutrient Information Panel on food packaging is a trustworthy source of information,' almost double the amount of subjects at 44.0% disagreed (36.1% disagreed somewhat, 17.9% disagreed completely) that 'statements about health on food packaging are a trustworthy source of information.' Conclusion: For South Australian adults, statements about health benefits of food on food packaging are viewed with much greater suspicion than the nutrient information panel. Attitudes towards food packaging varied more by age group than by sex of the respondent. For an unfamiliar food, country of origin is considered the most important information ...

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“…Sería de interés realizar el análisis químico de las galletitas dulces dietéticas de bajo valor glucídico para obtener datos más precisos sobre el aporte de nutrientes y proponer el desarrollo de nuevos productos adecuados a las recomendaciones nutricionales para la patología diabetes. Se han analizado alternativas para mejorar la interpretación de los rótulos por los consumidores 25 y, tal como concluyó Babio y col., el sistema del "Semáforo Nutricional" podría ayudar probablemente a realizar mejores elecciones alimentarias si se incluye en el rótulo de los alimentos 26 .…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Evaluación de la calidad nutricional de galletitas dulces de bajo valor glucídico del mercado de la ciudad de Rosario, Argentina

Llopart

Pérez

Borda-Bossana

et al. 2014

Rev Esp Nutr Hum Diet

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Introducción: Las galletitas constituyen un grupo de productos farináceos muy diverso. Su consumo es tradicional y las variedades dulces envasadas se integran en la canasta básica de alimentos. Existen galletitas funcionales, que permiten su consumo a las personas con necesidades dietéticas especiales, como en el caso de diabéticos. El objetivo principal del estudio fue evaluar, a través del rotulado nutricional, la cantidad de grasas totales, ácidos grasos saturados y sodio presentes en las galletitas dulces de bajo valor glucídico, disponibles en las dietéticas de la ciudad de Rosario. Material y Métodos: Se categorizaron las galletitas como Adecuadas, Medianamente Adecuadas o No Adecuadas según la interpretación de los nutrientes críticos analizados basada en la metodología del "Sistema Semáforo" (Norma de Rotulado de la Agencia Nacional de Alimentos de Reino Unido). Resultados: Todas ellas se clasificaron dentro de la categoría de mediano contenido de grasas totales. Al evaluar el contenido de ácidos grasos saturados, el 71% se correspondió con la categoría mediano contenido y el 29% se clasificó dentro de la categoría de bajo contenido. El 57% presentaron un mediano contenido de sodio, el 14% se correspondió con la categoría de alto contenido y el 29% bajo contenido. Conclusiones: El 86% de las galletitas dulces de bajo valor glucídico analizadas en esta muestra se clasificaron como Medianamente Adecuadas, mientras que el resto de las mismas se clasificaron como No Adecuadas (14%). Ninguna de ellas cumplió con los requisitos nutricionales para poder ser categorizada como Adecuada.

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Can front-of-pack labelling schemes guide healthier food choices? Australian shoppers’ responses to seven labelling formats

Cited by 103 publications

References 32 publications

A nutrient profiling assessment of packaged foods using two star-based front-of-pack labels

A nutrient profiling assessment of packaged foods using two star-based front-of-pack labels

A survey of consumer attitude towards nutrition and health statements on food labels in South Australia

Evaluación de la calidad nutricional de galletitas dulces de bajo valor glucídico del mercado de la ciudad de Rosario, Argentina

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