How well do Australian shoppers understand energy terms on food labels?

Abstract

Objective: To investigate nutrition literacy among adult grocery buyers regarding energy-related labelling terms on food packaging. Design: Qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to determine shoppers' understanding of energy terms ('energy', 'calories' and 'kilojoules') and how energy terms affect perceptions of healthiness and intentions to purchase breakfast cereals, muesli bars and frozen meals. Setting: Individual in-depth interviews and surveys in two metropolitan supermarkets, Sydney, Australia. Subjects: Australian adults (interview n 40, survey n 405) aged 18-79 years. Results: The relationship between energy and perceived healthiness of food varied by product type: higher energy breakfast cereals were perceived to be healthier, while lower energy frozen meals were seen as healthier choices. Likewise, intentions to purchase the higher energy product varied according to product type. The primary reason stated for purchasing higher energy products was for sustained energy. Participants from households of lower socio-economic status were significantly more likely to perceive higher energy products as healthier. From the qualitative interviews, participants expressed uncertainty about their understanding of kilojoules, while only 40 % of participants in intercept surveys correctly answered that kilojoules and calories measured the same thing. Conclusions: Australian consumers have a poor understanding of energy and kilojoules and tend to perceive higher energy products as healthier and providing sustained energy. This has implications regarding the usefulness of industry front-ofpack labelling initiatives and quick service restaurant menu labelling that provides information on energy content only. Comprehensive and widely communicated education campaigns will be essential to guide consumers towards healthier choices.

Evaluation of an electronic tool to assess food label literacy in adult Australians: A pilot study

“…Van der Merwe reported that just over 25% of people actively involved in food purchasing rarely or never read food labels . Furthermore, the lack of association between e‐NutLit scores and food label use in this study is consistent with previous research and suggests that those who read food labels may still have insufficient knowledge to understand and correctly interpret this information …”

Health literacy, literacy, numeracy and nutrition label understanding and use: a scoping review of the literature

“…Six studies evaluated participants’ use of nutrition label information for rating the healthfulness of food products , evaluating claims made about foods and making food choices . Participants' objective understanding of nutrition labels was measured in two studies . Subjective reports of understanding were provided in two studies .…”

“…By definition, health literacy includes the ability to read (or comprehend) and use information that should, in theory, be positively correlated with nutrition label understanding and use. The fact that one study included in this review appeared to equate health literacy with nutrition label understanding partially supports this hypothesis and may explain the dearth of research in this topic area. We chose to include, rather than exclude, studies that assessed health literacy because a lack of agreement exists over its meaning and measure .…”

“…Back-of-pack nutrition information was the focus in six studies (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) . Five studies examined both BOP and FOP information (5,(15)(16)(17)(18) . In five studies, the location of nutrition information was unclear or was not stated by the authors (19)(20)(21)(22)(23) .…”

The Nuances of Health Literacy, Nutrition Literacy, and Food Literacy

“…[9][10][11][12][13] This broad definition could arguably encapsulate a range of knowledge and competencies. Kickbusch 14 highlighted the complexities surrounding an absolute definition by explaining that health and nutrition literacy ''can mean many different things for different people .…”