How to inform about sodium reduction on food labels?

Abstract

Excessive sodium intake is a worldwide problem. Little attention has been paid to consumer perceptions and thoughts on how to report sodium reduction in food packaging. We aimed to investigate the opinion of consumers on the best ways to inform about sodium reduction on food labels. We held focus group sessions and performed a modified choice based conjoint analysis. Participants prefer packaging that has the front of pack nutrition label traffic light labeling and use of sentences informing the percentage of sodium content reduction. The blue color and the phrase that informs the percentage of sodium content reduction increase the probability of the consumer choosing a cracker with reduced sodium. These results allow the elaboration of labels for food with low sodium content that meet the expectations and desires of consumers, thus contributing to avoiding a low expectation or even rejection of the products just by looking at their packaging. Practical Applications Reducing sodium consumption is one of the most cost‐effective measures that countries could take to improve population health outcomes. This has been one of the most widely discussed issues of the 21st century. Several strategies have been developed to reduce the sodium content of foods. However, if consumers do not choose these products to buy these strategies will not have practical results. The results of this study allow us to identify the opinion and perception of consumers on the reduction of sodium in foods and on how to inform this reduction on labels. With the information obtained in this study, industries will be able to develop packaging with characteristics that will allow a greater probability of choosing foods with reduced sodium content.

Information on sodium reduction modifies how much sodium chloride level can be reduced without affecting the sensory acceptance of salty crackers

“…Package characteristics were defined based on previously studies (Sant'anna et al, 2022), in which consumers' behavior and opinion about the package of low‐sodium products through focus group sessions were evaluated.…”

“…Sant'anna et al (2022) found that consumers would prefer a package of low‐sodium products to have different colors from the package of traditional products, and blue was the most mentioned for this type of product. As for the way to get information about sodium reduction, consumers prefer information that shows the reduction percentage to assess whether the reduction is significant or not.…”

“…Another factor evaluated in the package was the additional information. Most consumers prefer a supplementary text on the package; however, there was divergence among consumers about which one is the most appropriate (Sant'anna et al, 2022).…”

“…Package characteristics were defined based on previously studies (Sant'anna et al, 2022), in which consumers' behavior and opinion about the package of low-sodium products through focus group sessions were evaluated. Sant'anna et al (2022) found that consumers would prefer a package of low-sodium products to have different colors from the package of traditional products, and blue was the most mentioned for this type of product. As for the way to get information about sodium reduction, consumers prefer information that shows the reduction percentage to assess whether the reduction is significant or not.…”

The Influence of Packaging Color on Consumer Perceptions of Healthfulness: A Systematic Review and Theoretical Framework

“…A basic idea in this research is that consumers respond with a positive feeling of calmness to cool colors, whereas warm colors are more likely to be associated with arousal and attention. Correspondingly, cool packaging colors have been associated with higher health perceptions than warm packaging colors in most but not all studies examining health perceptions [6,[14][15][16][17]. Below, we describe the studies comparing the effects of warm vs. cool colors on health perceptions in detail.…”