Are Front of Pack Claims Indicators of Nutrition Quality? Evidence from 2 Product Categories

Schaefer, Debra; Hooker, Neal H.; Stanton, John L.

doi:10.1111/1750-3841.13150

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…Nevertheless, compliance with this regulation is not regularly monitored. This result is consistent with other studies [ 64 , 65 ]. Since advertising techniques on the front of the package of food products have heavily increased, this study can set the example for other Latin-American countries to assess their food products.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Characterization of Breakfast Cereals Available in the Mexican Market: Sodium and Sugar Content

et al. 2017

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Preschool Mexican children consume 7% of their total energy intake from processed breakfast cereals. This study characterized the nutritional quality and labelling (claims and Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)) of the packaged breakfast cereals available in the Mexican market. Photographs of all breakfast cereals available in the 9 main food retail chains in the country were taken. The nutrition quality of cereals was assessed using the United Kingdom Nutrient Profiling Model (UKNPM). Claims were classified using the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) taxonomy and the GDA was defined according to the Mexican regulation, NOM-051. Overall, a total of 371 different breakfast cereals were analysed. The nutritional profile showed that 68.7% were classified as “less healthy”. GDAs and claims were displayed more frequently on the “less healthy” cereals. Breakfast cereals within the “less healthy” category had significantly higher content of energy, sugar and sodium (p < 0.001). Most of the claims were displayed in the “less healthy” cereals (n = 313). This study has shown that there is a lack of consistency between the labelling on the front of the pack and the nutritional quality of breakfast cereals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Characterization of Breakfast Cereals Available in the Mexican Market: Sodium and Sugar Content

et al. 2017

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“…Future study might examine science communication in B and C grade QHCs to gain greater understanding about existing claims as well as how federal lawsuits may impact the language of QHCs, which ultimately affects consumers. Although claims do not necessarily distinguish categorically healthy versus unhealthy foods [59], the perceived health quality of products by consumers may yield different perceptions of evidence and purchase intentions [60] with QHCs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualified Health Claim Language affects Purchase Intentions for Green Tea Products in the United States

2019

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Qualified health claims (QHC) describe diet–disease relationships and summarize the quality and strength of evidence for a claim. Companies assert that QHCs increase sales and take legal action to ensure claims reflect their interests. Yet, there is no empirical evidence that QHCs influence consumers. Using green tea as a case study, this study investigated the effects of QHCs on purchase intentions among adults 55 years and older living in the US. An online survey using a between-subjects design examined QHCs about the relationship between green tea and the reduced risk of breast and/or prostate cancer or yukichi fruit juice and the reduced risk of gastrocoridalis, a fictitious relationship. QHCs written by a green tea company generated greater perceptions of evidence for the relationship, greater confidence in green tea and cancer, and increased purchase intentions for green tea than other QHCs. Factors that mitigated the claim’s effects on purchase intentions are: Race/ethnicity; age; importance of health claims; supplement use; health; worry about health/becoming sick with cancer; worry that led to dietary change; green tea consumption; and familiarity with the green tea–cancer. Consumers who made health-related dietary change in the past year and consider health claims important indicated greater purchase intentions than others.

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“…Studies quantifying the healthiness of products such as non-alcoholic beverages, cereal bars, breakfast cereals and prepared meals have found that the presence of a health claim does not correlate with overall product healthiness as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration, the UK Office of Communications or Food Standards Australia New Zealand. [21][22][23] In addition to health claims being potentially misleading due to marketing practices, consumers can fall prey to cognitive biases that lead them to believe that products with health claims are healthier than they are. For example, there is a tendency to generalize the information in a claim to other product attributes (e.g., assuming a low cholesterol product is also low in fat), which is known as the halo effect.…”

Section: Consumer Interpretation Of Health Claimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumers’ responses to health claims in the context of other on-pack nutrition information: a systematic review

et al. 2017

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The presence of health claims on food packaging can positively bias consumers' evaluations of foods. This review examined whether cognitive biases endure when other sources of nutrition information [the nutrition facts panel (NFP) and front-of-pack labels] appear on-pack with health claims. The following databases were searched: Web of Science, Ovid, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, ProQuest, and Wiley Online Library. The search terms ("health claim*" OR "nutri* claim") AND ("food label*" OR "front of pack") were used to identify studies. Twenty-four studies that examined health claims and front-of-pack labels or the NFP were included. The NFP can reduce bias, but only if consumers view it and interpret it correctly, which often does not occur. Front-of-pack labels show greater promise in reducing bias created by health claims. These findings are relevant to policymakers who are considering the effectiveness of mandating an NFP and/or a front-of-pack label alongside health claims.

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Are Front of Pack Claims Indicators of Nutrition Quality? Evidence from 2 Product Categories

Cited by 12 publications

References 28 publications

Characterization of Breakfast Cereals Available in the Mexican Market: Sodium and Sugar Content

Characterization of Breakfast Cereals Available in the Mexican Market: Sodium and Sugar Content

Qualified Health Claim Language affects Purchase Intentions for Green Tea Products in the United States

Consumers’ responses to health claims in the context of other on-pack nutrition information: a systematic review

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