Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Food and Nutrition Services
Department
Nutrition and Hospitality Management
First Advisor
Mary G. Roseman
Second Advisor
Hyun-Woo Joung
Third Advisor
Robert Magee
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
American weight trends have steadily increased over the past years. In efforts to better inform consumers of their food consumption, increasingly front-of-package (fop) food labels are displayed on packaged food items. Fop nutrition labels have become more prevalent in the US to help consumers identify healthier options at the point-of-purchase. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of two current fop labels, the facts up front and the facts up front extended labels. In addition, a generic binary label was created to represent a non-brand associated symbol, which does not currently exist in the US. Participants were randomized to one of three of the label conditions or the no-label control group. A total of 161 adults, who are primary grocery shoppers in the US, ages 18-69 participated in this study. All participants were recruited through an online database, qualtrics, in January 2016, and participated in the study. The main outcome measures were the healthiness assessment of two product variants for three comfood categories, along with label liking, familiarity, ease of comprehension, purchase intention, and perceived label credibility. Additionally, participants' nutrition attitude, self-reported nutrition knowledge, and label behaviors were examined. The results indicated minor differences between the facts up front and facts up front extended fops, but both were significantly more liked, familiar, easier to comprehend, and perceived as more credible than the generic binary label, the health check (p < .05). Overall, those in the facts up front label conditions performed better than those in the health check and no label conditions, indicating the presence of fop labels successfully assists in assessing product healthiness.
Recommended Citation
Irvin, Emily Lauren, "A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Front-Of-Package Nutrition Labels In The US" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1006.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/1006