The final results from the Food Labeling to Advance Better Education for Life (FLABEL) project, which provides the latest research on consumer behavior and nutrition labels, demonstrate that even though the nutritional information on European food labels is well understood, consumers lacking motivation and attention nevertheless prevent the labels from making a positive impact on food choices.

These results will be presented at the final FLABEL conference and consensus workshop with key stakeholders, where the implications of the project results will be discussed.

Although nutrition labeling provides consumers with a quick guide of the different products’ nutritional value, little is known about how consumers use this information and what impact it has on their shopping behavior. The different labeling formats that are already in place, such as nutrition tables, Traffic Light scheme, Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) and Health Logos, etc., may stimulate different responses. The FLABEL project will provide guidelines for research, industry and policy-makers and therefore aims to fully examine all impacts from label availability to the effects on dietary intake.

Investigators carried out an EU-wide nutrition labeling audit in 84 retail stores involving over 37,000 products from five different product categories, such as sweet biscuits, breakfast cereals, chilled pre-packed ready meals, yoghurts and carbonated soft drinks.

According to FLABEL investigators, 85% of all products displayed nutrition information on the back of the pack, with 48% displaying the information on the packaging front. The most prevalent format with 84% on the back of the packaging was in form of a table or list, showing calorific value and nutrient composition, whilst both an average of 25% of nutrition claims and GDA were the most often used format for the front of pack nutrition information.

Most consumers were able to correctly classify products in terms of healthiness when information on key nutrients, such as saturated fat, fat, salt, sugar and energy was provided. The auditors found that additional information like health logos, GDA or traffic lights only slightly improved the accuracy in which the consumers ranked the products in terms of healthiness.

Although consumers in the study reported a preference for labels that provide complete information, their liking and intention to use these labels had no effect on the actual product they chose.

The auditors found that a major factor affecting the impact of nutrition labels on the actual food purchases was the lack of the consumers’ attention paid to the nutrition information. By using sophisticated eye-tracking equipment FLABEL measured the time that consumers’ spent on reading the labels, and discovered that the visual impact of the label was only holding consumers’ attention for an average of between 25 and 100 milliseconds.

According to a suggestion made by FLABEL’s Scientific Advisor, Professor Klaus Grunert, of the Aarhus University in Denmark:

“The FLABEL research shows the most promising option for increasing consumers’ attention to, and use of, nutrition information on food labels, is to provide information on key nutrients and energy on the front of the pack, in a consistent way. Complementing this information with a health logo can also increase attention to, and use of, the information, especially when the consumer is under time pressure. Similarly, use of color coding can increase attention and use in certain situations, although the effects of both are not strong.”

The auditors found that motivation plays a major role on the impact that nutrition labels have on consumer choices.

Grunert explains:

“When prompted, consumers were able to identify which products were healthier, but they did not use this information to choose which product they prefer. A lack of consumer motivation, therefore, is one factor standing in the way of healthy food choices resulting from nutrition labeling.”

Written by Petra Rattue