The effects of nutrition labels on information recall and label preference

Abstract

Throughout the twenty-first century, nutrition and nutrition labelling have played an important role in healthy eating behaviours. The impact a nutrition label can have as a reliable source of nutrition information to help consumers make knowledgeable choices for living a healthy lifestyle has not yet been accepted within Canada. This could be due to the possibility that the current nutrition label employed in Canada is not effective and that an improvement to the label could also increase its use by consumers who want to make healthier choices. The current study (available online) aimed to explore the relationship between different product labels and consumer preference for a certain food label. A sample of two hundred participants (separated into four groups) were included in the analysis; nutrition understanding and accuracy of the Nutrition Facts Panel in portraying health information, label type preference and nutritional information recall were each assessed to determine which label will help consumers make healthier food choices. Overall, it was determined that the most preferred and effective label was the Multiple Traffic Light label, very closely followed by the current Nutrition Facts Panel. However, both the MTL and NFP label performed rather closely and should be considered on par with each other in terms of preference and recall accuracy. In addition, it is important to note the analysis showed that the current Nutrition Facts Panel is not completely effective in communicating nutritional information to consumers. The relevance of these findings in terms of nutrition labelling is outlined below, along with all considerations for future research.