Color-coded nutrition labels and warnings linked to more healthful
purchases
New analysis of 118 studies conducted over 30 years could help refine,
improve food labelling policies

Date:
October 5, 2021
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
A new analysis has integrated findings from 134 studies of the
impact of color-coded nutrition labels and warnings found on the
front of some food packaging, indicating that these labels do
indeed appear to encourage more healthful purchases.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new analysis has integrated findings from 134 studies of the impact
of color- coded nutrition labels and warnings found on the front of
some food packaging, indicating that these labels do indeed appear to
encourage more healthful purchases. Jing Song of Queen Mary University
of London, UK, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access
journal PLOS Medicine.


==========================================================================
Some countries have introduced mandatory front-of-package labeling in
hope of improving people's diets and reducing the burden of diseases
associated with poor diets. These labels may employ color coding
to indicate nutrition, or they may warn consumers about unhealthful
features of products. However, studies on the impact of such labeling
have produced mixed evidence.

To help clarify the impact of front-of-package nutrition labels, Song
and colleagues analyzed data from 134 peer-reviewed studies published
between January 1990 and May 2021. They applied an analytical method
known as network meta-analysis in order to integrate the results of the
studies and evaluate the impact of four different labeling systems --
two that use color-coding and two that use warnings.

This meta-analysis showed that all four labeling systems appeared to
be advantageous in encouraging consumers to purchase more nutritionally beneficial products. Evaluation of specific nutritional qualities found
that labeling nudged consumers towards foods and drinks with lower levels
of energy, sodium, fat, and saturated fat.

The analysis also highlighted psychological mechanisms that may underlie
the different strengths of different labels, due to their impact on
consumers' understanding of nutrition information and resulting changes
in attitudes towards unhealthful or healthful foods. Color-coded labels appeared to be more beneficial in promoting more healthful purchases, and warning labels were more effective in discouraging unhealthy purchases.

These findings could help guide and refine policies on front-of-package labeling to improve public health. Meanwhile, future research could
build on this study by addressing related concepts, such as the impact
of labeling on reformulation of products by the food industry or more
long-term benefits of labeling on purchasing behavior.

"This study found that color-coded labels and warning labels are all
able to direct consumers towards more healthful purchase behaviour,"
the researchers add. "Color-coded labels can promote the purchase of
more healthful products, while warning labels discourage the purchase
of less healthful products.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jing Song, Mhairi K. Brown, Monique Tan, Graham A. MacGregor, Jacqui
Webster, Norm R. C. Campbell, Kathy Trieu, Cliona Ni Mhurchu,
Laura K.

Cobb, Feng J. He. Impact of color-coded and warning
nutrition labelling schemes: A systematic review and network
meta-analysis. PLOS Medicine, 2021; 18 (10): e1003765 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pmed.1003765 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211005175402.htm

--- up 4 weeks, 5 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)