Consumers really do look at nutrition facts…when they’re on the front-of-pack.

An interesting study published in “Public Health Nutrition” appears to support a move to mandatory front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition facts. The UK, US, and Australasia are all grappling with this issue which motivated researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand to study the impact of existing nutrition labels. They asked study participants to relate the effect that a “percentage of daily intake” label and a hybrid “traffic light” label would have on their intention to buy branded cereal products. The findings are enlightening to food and beverage marketers.

1. Purchase Intention: Study participants did notice and read the FOP nutrition labels, and it did significantly increase their intention to purchase a product.

2. FOP Label Content: The FOP label content did not influence the purchase intention to any significant degree, in that the nutritional values of the product were not really evaluated by the study participants. They were simply influenced by the presence of the information.

3. The Disconnect: One of the biggest arguments in favor of FOP labels is that it would help consumers learn what is in the food they are consuming and that they will make healthier choices if the information is more readily visible at the shelf level. The study participants overwhelming ignored the nutritional values in choosing one study product over the other, and instead were influenced most the availability of information.

This study suggests that there may be a marketing advantage to FOP labels. However, it also strongly suggests the need for more consumer education on understanding nutrition labels and making healthier food choices.