Characteristics of consumers using 'better for you' front-of-pack food labelling schemes - an example from the Australian Heart Foundation Tick

Impact of front-of-pack nutrition labelling in consumer understanding and use across socio-economic status: A systematic review

An unhealthy diet is a leading contributor to the increasing burden of overweight and obesity. Front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) is being recognized as a policy strategy to promote healthier choices yet there is limited evaluation of FOPL to suggest if it is effective for all population subgroups. This systematic review aimed to assess the impact of FOPL on consumer understanding and usage across socio-economic gradients. Six electronic databases were searched through a systematic search process using key terms for FOPL and socioeconomic status (SES) from 2011 to March 2022 to include studies evaluating the effectiveness of FOPL. A narrative synthesis was conducted and the results were assessed according to the effects of FOPL on consumer awareness, understanding, and usage across SES. The review included 36 articles. In general, people of all SES groups were aware of and more likely to pay attention towards FOPL than the nutrition information panel provided on the back of the package. However, the understanding and usage were relatively poor, particularly in low SES groups. While studies conducted in low SES populations suggest FOPL increased the purchase intention of healthy products, the stratified analysis across SES showed less beneficial effects in low SES individuals. The findings highlight simplified and easy-to-understand FOPLs such as Nutri-score and traffic light labelling are likely to be effective for all populations including low SES groups. Overall, the review suggests FOPLs are more visible than the nutrition information panel and may guide healthier food choices for people of all SES backgrounds. It is unclear whether FOPL influences actual purchasing and food intake as there are insufficient studies comparing the effects among higher and lower SES populations.

Health Star Ratings and Beverage Purchase Intentions: A Study of Australian and New Zealand Hospitality Consumers

This study examines the effects of a health star rating system on the attitudes of consumers and their purchase intentions towards beverage products sold in hospitality venues. Previous studies linking health ratings to the food and beverages of consumers mainly focus on fast-moving consumer goods and retail purchasing. However, purchasing patterns in hospitality and foodservice environments are distinct as consumers may be less concerned about health and more interested in the dining experience. Thus, this research focuses on: (1) whether the presence of health star ratings on beverage products influences the willingness of consumers to purchase in the context of the hospitality industry, and (2) identifying the demographic and psychographic factors influencing these behavioural intentions. Using Ordinary Least Squares regression to analyse data from an e-survey of 1021 consumers in Australia and New Zealand, the study found that health star ratings do have an impact on the willingness of consumers to purchase healthy beverages. Specifically, psychographic segmentation around ‘health goals’ is far more pertinent to understanding purchase behaviour in a hospitality setting than age, gender, income, or country. The findings present new insights into the importance of health star labelling on beverages and the purchase intentions of consumers.

Current use of nutrition facts tables and attitudes towards new red and green front-of-package labels among Israeli consumers

Front-of-package labels (FOPL) are designed to simplify nutrition information and to help consumers make healthier food choices. The Israeli government has implemented new regulations requiring mandatory red warning FOPL for high levels of sodium, sugar, or saturated fats. A voluntary green positive FOPL for products fitting the national nutritional recommendations was concurrently encouraged. In order to characterise adult consumers' current use of Nutrition Facts Tables (NFT) and their attitudes towards the new FOPL, a nationally representative cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted. Most of the 1,042 survey respondents reported frequent NFT use (76.2%) and intentions to purchase fewer red-labelled (81.1%) and more green-labelled products (85.0%). Consumers with higher BMI and lower education expressed higher intentions to use the new FOPL, but not higher current use of NFT. This finding suggests that these high-risk groups, which the new labels are meant to target, may indeed benefit from the new policy.

Knowledge about Sugar Sources and Sugar Intake Guidelines in Portuguese Consumers

In this work, we examined knowledge about sugars and guidelines for its consumption and explored the relationship between knowledge and measures related to nutritional information processing as well as sugar consumption. Specifically, we asked participants (n = 1010 Portuguese) to categorize a set of ingredients (e.g., glucose, aspartame) regarding their composition (i.e., intrinsic vs. added/free sugars) and origin (e.g., natural vs. artificial) and if they were aware of the WHO guidelines for sugar intake. Overall, despite using information about sugar frequently and considering attending to such information as very important to stay healthy, most participants were unaware of the WHO guidelines and revealed difficulties in the categorization task. Women, participants with a higher level of education, and those with children in the household reported higher use of sugar content information present in nutritional labels, higher perceived knowledge of nutritional guidelines, and higher hit rates in categorizing sugar sources. Almost one-fourth of the population exceeds the daily limit recommended by the WHO. Therefore, characterizing the knowledge of a Portuguese sample regarding sugar sources and sugar intake guidelines is particularly relevant, and our results emphasize the need to implement effective strategies to reduce sugar intake.

Prevalence of Product Claims and Marketing Buzzwords Found on Health Food Snack Products Does Not Relate to Nutrient Profile

Growth in the consumer health and wellness industry has led to an increase of packaged foods marketed as health food (HF) products. In consequence, a ‘health halo’ around packaged HF has arisen that influences consumers at point-of-purchase. This study compared product claims (nutrient content claims (NCC), health claims and marketing ‘buzzwords’) displayed on packaged HF snack products sold in HF stores and HF aisles in supermarkets to equivalent products sold in regular aisles (RA) of supermarkets. Product Health Star Rating (HSR), nutrient profile and price were also compared. Data were collected for 2361 products from three supermarket chains, two HF chains and one independent HF store in Sydney, Australia. Mann-Whitney U tests compared the product claims, HSR, nutrient composition and unit ($) price. HF snacks displayed significantly more product claims per product compared to RA foods (HSR ≤ 2.5), median (IQR) 5.0(4.0) versus 1.0(2) and (HSR > 2.5) 4.0(4.0) versus 3.0(4), respectively (p < 0.001). A significantly different HSR was evident between HF and RA snack products, median 2.5(0) versus 2.0(1.5), respectively (p < 0.001). HF snacks cost significantly more than RA snack foods, irrespective of product HSR (p < 0.001). These findings support the recommendation for revised labelling regulations and increased education regarding consumers food label interpretation.

Consumer Acceptability of Intramuscular Fat

Fat in meat greatly improves eating quality, yet many consumers avoid visible fat, mainly because of health concerns. Generations of consumers, especially in the English-speaking world, have been convinced by health authorities that animal fat, particularly saturated or solid fat, should be reduced or avoided to maintain a healthy diet. Decades of negative messages regarding animal fats has resulted in general avoidance of fatty cuts of meat. Paradoxically, low fat or lean meat tends to have poor eating quality and flavor and low consumer acceptability. The failure of low-fat high-carbohydrate diets to curb "globesity" has prompted many experts to re-evaluate of the place of fat in human diets, including animal fat. Attitudes towards fat vary dramatically between and within cultures. Previous generations of humans sought out fatty cuts of meat for their superior sensory properties. Many consumers in East and Southeast Asia have traditionally valued more fatty meat cuts. As nutritional messages around dietary fat change, there is evidence that attitudes towards animal fat are changing and many consumers are rediscovering and embracing fattier cuts of meat, including marbled beef. The present work provides a short overview of the unique sensory characteristics of marbled beef and changing consumer preferences for fat in meat in general.

Tick tock: time for a change?

Issue addressed: New developments in front-of-pack nutrition labelling are substantially improving the nutrition information available at the point of purchase. This has led to a need to reconsider the role of health logos such as the National Heart Foundation's 'Tick'.Methods: Using a qualitative, exploratory approach involving 10 focus groups with adults and children, this study investigated consumers' attitudes to the Tick and its relevance to their purchase decisions.Results: Both adults and children exhibited awareness of the Tick and its aim to indicate healthier product alternatives. Views on the effectiveness of the Tick were polarised, with some considering it a useful tool and others querying the basis of its licensing arrangements.Conclusions: While the Tick has in the past played a role in assisting consumers to make more informed decisions and encouraging favourable modification of the food supply, recent questions relating to its role and credibility have resulted in the Heart Foundation deciding to retire it.So what?: After a quarter of a century in the Australian marketplace, the National Heart Foundation's Tick program has been reviewed. The findings of the present study provide insight into consumers' views of the Tick and suggest that the emergence of more comprehensive food labelling initiatives may make logo-based nutrition labels redundant.

Consumers' Exposure to Nutrition and Health Claims on Pre-Packed Foods: Use of Sales Weighting for Assessing the Food Supply in Slovenia

Insights into the use of health-related information on foods are important for planning studies about the effects of such information on the consumer’s understanding, purchasing, and consumption of foods, and also support further food policy decisions. We tested the use of sales data for weighting consumers’ exposure to health-related labeling information in the Slovenian food supply. Food labeling data were collected from 6342 pre-packed foods available in four different food stores in Slovenia. Consumers’ exposure was calculated as the percentage of available food products with particular food information in the food category. In addition, 12-month sales data were used to calculate sales weighted exposure as a percentage of sold food products with certain food information in the food category. The consumer’s in-store and sales-weighted exposure to nutrition claims was 37% and 45%, respectively. Exposure to health claims was much lower (13%, 11% when sales-weighted). Health claims were mainly found in the form of general non-specific claims or function claims, while children’s development and reduction of disease risk claims were present on only 0.1% and 0.2% of the investigated foods, respectively. Sales data were found very useful for establishing a reliable estimation of consumers’ exposure to information provided on food labels. The high penetration of health-related information on food labels indicates that careful regulation of this area is appropriate. Further studies should focus on assessing the nutritional quality of foods labeled with nutrition and health claims, and understanding the importance of such labeling techniques for consumers’ food preferences and choices.

The Influence of Nutrition Labeling and Point-of-Purchase Information on Food Behaviours

Point-of-purchase information on packaged food has been a highly debated topic. Various types of nutrition labels and point-of-purchase information have been studied to determine their ability to attract consumers' attention, be well understood and promote healthy food choices. Country-specific regulatory and monitoring frameworks have been implemented to ensure reliability and accuracy of such information. However, the impact of such information on consumers' behaviour remains contentious. This review summarizes recent evidence on the real-world effectiveness of nutrition labels and point-of-purchase information.