Lana Vanderlee1,2, Beatriz Franco-Arellano1, Mavra Ahmed1, Angela Oh1,3, Wendy Lou4, Mary R L'Abbé1. 1. Department of Nutritional Sciences and WHO Collaborating Centre on Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Room 5368m 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, CanadaM5S 1A8. 2. École de Nutrition, Centre nutrition, santé et société (Centre NUTRISS), Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF), Université Laval, Quebec, Canada. 3. Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 4. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of front-of-package (FOP) labels on perceived healthfulness, purchasing intentions and understanding of common FOP systems. DESIGN: A parallel, open-label design randomised participants to different FOP labelling conditions: 'high in' warning labels (WL), multiple traffic light labelling (TLL), health star ratings (HSR) (all displayed per serving) or control with no interpretive FOP labelling. Participants completed a brief educational session via a smartphone application and two experimental tasks. In Task 1, participants viewed healthy or unhealthy versions of four products and rated healthiness and purchasing intention on a seven-point Likert-type scale. In Task 2, participants ranked three sets of five products from healthiest to least healthy. SETTING: Online commercial panel. PARTICIPANTS: Canadian residents ≥ 18 years who were involved in household grocery shopping, owned a smartphone and met minimum screen requirements. RESULTS: Data from 1997 participants (n 500/condition) were analysed. Task 1: across most product categories, the TLL and HSR increased perceived healthiness of healthier products. All FOP systems decreased perceived healthiness of less healthy products. Similar, albeit dampened, effects were seen regarding purchasing intentions. Task 2: participants performed best in the HSR, followed by the TLL, WL and control conditions. Lower health literacy was associated with higher perceived healthiness and purchasing intentions and poorer ranking task performance across all conditions. CONCLUSIONS: All FOP labelling systems, after a brief educational session, improved task performance across a wide spectrum of foods. This effect differed depending on the nutritional quality of the products and the information communicated on labels.Trial Registration: NCT03290118.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of front-of-package (FOP) labels on perceived healthfulness, purchasing intentions and understanding of common FOP systems. DESIGN: A parallel, open-label design randomised participants to different FOP labelling conditions: 'high in' warning labels (WL), multiple traffic light labelling (TLL), health star ratings (HSR) (all displayed per serving) or control with no interpretive FOP labelling. Participants completed a brief educational session via a smartphone application and two experimental tasks. In Task 1, participants viewed healthy or unhealthy versions of four products and rated healthiness and purchasing intention on a seven-point Likert-type scale. In Task 2, participants ranked three sets of five products from healthiest to least healthy. SETTING: Online commercial panel. PARTICIPANTS: Canadian residents ≥ 18 years who were involved in household grocery shopping, owned a smartphone and met minimum screen requirements. RESULTS: Data from 1997 participants (n 500/condition) were analysed. Task 1: across most product categories, the TLL and HSR increased perceived healthiness of healthier products. All FOP systems decreased perceived healthiness of less healthy products. Similar, albeit dampened, effects were seen regarding purchasing intentions. Task 2: participants performed best in the HSR, followed by the TLL, WL and control conditions. Lower health literacy was associated with higher perceived healthiness and purchasing intentions and poorer ranking task performance across all conditions. CONCLUSIONS: All FOP labelling systems, after a brief educational session, improved task performance across a wide spectrum of foods. This effect differed depending on the nutritional quality of the products and the information communicated on labels.Trial Registration: NCT03290118.
Entities:
Keywords:
Food labelling; Front-of-package labelling; Health star ratings; Nutrition labelling; Randomised controlled trial; Traffic light labelling; Warning symbols
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