Comparison of two front-of-pack nutrition labels for Brazilian consumers using a smartphone app in a real-world grocery store: A pilot randomized controlled study

Abstract

One of the suggestions for improving the understanding of food labels is implementing front-of-pack nutrition labeling (FoPNL), where nutritional information is objectively made available to consumers. Scientific data on the best FoPNL model to be adopted for the Brazilian population is still emerging, especially in real-world purchase situations. This study aims to evaluate/compare the proposed Brazilian and Mexican FoPNL systems, on different outcome measures, using an application, in dairy foods available in a supermarket aisle. This pilot randomized controlled trial in a real-world purchase situation was conducted in June/July 2021. A total of 230 participants were randomly allocated to one of the three study arms (Mexican and Brazilian FoPNL systems or control—nutritional information table and ingredients list). Using a smartphone, the participants scanned a product barcode and received the allocated FoPNL (with information about excessive added sugars, sodium, and/or saturated fat content) or the control. After, they answered questions related to our primary outcome (decision to buy or not to buy a product) and secondary outcomes (perceived healthiness, facilitation of a quick purchase decision, and identification of excess nutrients). The Mexican FoPNL system performed better in the primary outcome (3.74 ± 1.34) and “facilitation of a quick purchase decision” (3.59 ± 1.31), compared to the control (3.28 ± 1.45;p = 0.043 and 3.11 ± 1.42; p = 0.029). The Mexican FoPNL system performed better in supporting consumers to identify dairy foods, among the selected sample in this study, high in added sugars than the control (82.2% and 63.5% of correct answers, respectively; p = 0.009). For saturated fats, the Brazilian FoPNL resulted in 93.1% of correct answers against 48.2% for the control and 58.9% for the Mexican system (p ≤ 0.001). The Mexican FoPNL system facilitated consumer decision-making on when to buy or not to buy a selected dairy product and in helping to quickly decide which dairy products to buy, among the selected sample in this study, compared to the control. Considering the right answers of critical nutrients in excess or not, both models of FoPNL, delivered by a smartphone app, performed well.

Front‐of‐package nutrition labeling as a driver for healthier food choices: Lessons learned and future perspectives

“…A recent study compared the effectiveness of Brazilian and Mexican FOPL schemes among Brazilian consumers. In this study, the Mexican scheme performed better than both the control and the Brazilian FOPL for the outcomes “facilitation of a quick purchase decision” and “decision of to buy or not to buy a product” all with statistical relevance (Silva et al., 2022).…”

Towards a Digital Native Era in Nutrition: Introducing the M-Format Labeling

“…Food manufacturers should be aware of the need to improve attitudes toward the product through labeling and nutritional information to increase credibility and purchase intention (Hernandez-Fernandez et al, 2022). Applications have been developed to allow consumers to retrieve nutritional information based on barcode scanning and interpretive front-of-pack labeling methods (Silva et al, 2022). Such apps that support healthy food delivery could be further developed by introducing nutrition labeling (Mauch et al, 2021).…”

Effects of front-of-package nutrition labelling systems on understanding and purchase intention in Jamaica: results from a multiarm randomised controlled trial

“…Results are also expected to contribute to the evaluation of the effect of graphical design on the effectiveness of warning labels, a topic that has been increasingly receiving more attention in the literature more recently. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39] The hypotheses tested in the study include: (1) OWL, MGG and TFL improve consumers' ability to correctly identify the least harmful product more often; (2) these FOP labelling schemes improve Open access consumers' ability to correctly identify the presence of excessive nutrient content in products more often; (3) and these FOP labelling schemes increase consumers' intention to purchase the least harmful option or none of the options of a series of products, more often. These hypotheses have been tested both against the control condition, and between the FOP labelling schemes, to verify whether there is a scheme that performs differently from the others for each hypothesis.…”

“…The comparisons aimed at assessing the effect of these FOP labelling schemes on objective understanding (correct identification of the least harmful product and correct identification of excessive nutrient content), and intention to purchase of a series of products, in Jamaica. Results are also expected to contribute to the evaluation of the effect of graphical design on the effectiveness of warning labels, a topic that has been increasingly receiving more attention in the literature more recently 33–39. The hypotheses tested in the study include: (1) OWL, MGG and TFL improve consumers’ ability to correctly identify the least harmful product more often; (2) these FOP labelling schemes improve consumers’ ability to correctly identify the presence of excessive nutrient content in products more often; (3) and these FOP labelling schemes increase consumers’ intention to purchase the least harmful option or none of the options of a series of products, more often.…”