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Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
Published on: June 5, 2016
Facts up front versus traffic light food labels: a randomized controlled trial
Christina A Roberto1, Marie A Bragg, Marlene B Schwartz
1Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA. christina.roberto@yale.edu
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
|July 21, 2012
Summary
The Multiple Traffic Light system (Traffic Light) with added nutrients to encourage demonstrated superior consumer understanding compared to the Facts Up Front labeling system for nutrition information. This highlights the effectiveness of interpretive nutrition labels.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Consumer Behavior
- Public Health
Background:
- The U.S. food industry introduced "Facts Up Front," a front-of-package nutrition labeling system.
- This system provides nutrient content and daily value percentages for various food products.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare consumer understanding of "Facts Up Front" with the "Multiple Traffic Light" (Traffic Light) system.
- To evaluate how different front-of-package nutrition labels influence consumer knowledge.
Main Methods:
- An online study randomized 703 adults into five groups: no label, Traffic Light, Traffic Light plus protein/fiber (Traffic Light+), Facts Up Front, and Facts Up Front plus "nutrients to encourage" (Facts Up Front+).
- Participants completed quizzes assessing their ability to compare foods based on nutrient levels and estimate nutrient content.
Main Results:
- Front-of-package labels generally improved nutrient quiz performance compared to no label.
- The Traffic Light+ group achieved the highest overall scores, exceeding 80% on all quizzes.
- Performance differences were noted between label types for specific nutrients like saturated fat and sugars.
Conclusions:
- The Traffic Light+ system led to better nutrition knowledge and label perception than the Facts Up Front system.
- Interpretive nutrition labeling, especially when enhanced with "nutrients to encourage," may be more effective for consumer understanding.
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