Start Date: September 2011

ID #: CAS009

Organization: University of Arkansas

Project Lead: Elizabeth Howlett, PhD

See more related research

Share


The provision of nutrition information on food packaging is one strategy to help consumers make food choices. The federal Nutrition Labeling and Education Act enacted in 1990 requires that almost all packaged foods bear a Nutrition Facts panel which includes information such as serving size, calories, and certain nutrients. Despite the availability of this information, the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in recent decades. A variety of nutrition rating systems and symbols have been developed in recent years and now appear on the front of food packages, meant to make it easier for consumers to make healthful food choices. The purpose of this project was to test a new fact-based, evaluative system of calorie and nutrient information provision. The research team evaluated the consumer comprehension of the Nutrition Facts system as compared to other available front-of-package labeling systems, including the Nutrition Keys system launched in 2011 by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Food Marketing Institute, as well as other systems developed by the Institute of Medicine and the food industry. Data were collected from participants via internet panels as well as in a retail laboratory setting, all of whom were adult consumers with children living in the household of the participant.

Related Research

March 2014

Shopper Response to Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling Programs: Potential Consumer and Retail Store Benefits

Many front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling systems have been developed by food retailers and manufactures to help consumers identify more healthful options at the point of purchase. This paper examines how two alternative FOP nutrition labeling systems – reductive and evaluative – affect shoppers’ product evaluations, choices, and retailer evaluations. Reductive FOP systems extract a reduced More

July 2022

Reducing Student Exposure to Digital Food and Beverage Marketing

Digital marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children and adolescents is pervasive and undermines healthy eating. During the COVID-19 pandemic, students’ time spent online for both recreation and school using educational technology doubled from 3.8 to 7.7 hours per day for 12- to13-year-olds, and racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities widened with children of color More

April 2022

Food Marketing Practices of Major Online Grocery Retailers in the United States, 2019-2020

Food marketing influences consumers’ preferences for and selection of marketed products. Although a substantial body of research has described food-marketing practices in brick-and-mortar stores, no research has examined food marketing in online grocery retail despite its growing importance as a source of food-at-home purchases. This study aimed to develop and apply a coding instrument to More