EU study questions consumer use of nutrition labels

  • October 15, 2010
  • source: just-food

UK shoppers understand nutrition labels on food products but may not be motivated enough to use them to buy healthier products, an EU study has claimed.

supermarket shopping

A survey conducted by Aarhus University in Denmark and the European Food Information Council showed that more than eight in ten UK consumers could understand GDA and traffic-light labels, as well as a hybrid of both systems.

However, the study claimed that just 27% of shoppers used the information on the labels when buying food.

“While levels of understanding nutrition information may be explained by demographic factors, the study’s authors found that the only variable having a direct effect on use of nutrition information in the store was interest in healthy eating. Across six food categories studied, the main reason cited for choosing a particular product was taste, not healthy eating,” the EUFIC said.

The EUFIC, which receives from industry and the EU, said the report’s authors argued that too much focus had been given to labelling and not to what motivated people to eat healthily.

“Only when labelling policy is embedded in a broader nutrition policy that uses multiple instruments to increase interest in healthy eating can both understandability and use of nutrition information on food labels be expected to increase,” the authors said.

just-food is the world’s leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily mix of breaking news, views, analysis and research serves over 100,000 food executives each month. http://www.just-food.com/


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One Response to “EU study questions consumer use of nutrition labels”

  1. Robyn Gillespie on October 15th, 2010 7:08 pm

    I’m curious to know if this study was funded by the food industry? I don’t think anyone involved in the current discussion regarding the adequacy of food labeling would claim that more informative, interpretive food labeling will be the sole tool needed to motive consumers to make healthy choices. Does this negate the need for a review of food labeling? Certainly not! It has a very important place in returning some sovereignty to the consumer as they make informed food choices for themselves and their families.Yes they may still choice to purchase food that is less than healthy however they will be making that choice with more knowledge than has previously been available. Certainly it is true that the food industry, both in the EU and Australia/NZ has generally argued for revised food labeling that is not as easy for the consumer to interpret. For an interesting review of food industry submissions compared to the health and government sectors in Australia please refer to the article below:

    http://www.phaa.net.au/documents/email/NZMJeditorial.pdf