Nutrition Labeling for Foods: Which Approaches Are Useful?

Nutrition labeling encompasses nutrient declaration, supplemental nutrient information such as interpretative nutrition information on the principal display panel or front-of-pack labeling, and nutrition-related claims used to promote the nutritional properties of packaged foods. These types of labeling are inter-related. In many countries, nutrient declaration is mandatory for most packaged foods and used to inform consumers at the point of purchase to help them make more informed food choices. Supplemental nutrition information on the principal display panel is designed to assist consumers in the interpretation of nutrition information. The use of nutrition-related claims should be regulated to have consistency in what is allowed and avoid claims from being false or misleading. Nutrition labeling should be based on public health priorities and be designed to enable consumers to compare products and judge if a product is high or low in a declared nutrient in the context of the daily diet. Supplemental nutrition labeling can have various purposes and research is needed to validate that it is effective for the intended purpose with the target audience. The presence of standardized nutrition labeling on packaged foods enables the development of education strategies for consumer use of the information. Education is a key component for labeling strategies to be effective.