Consumers confused by nutritional labels

The study into front-of-pack nutritional labelling being carried out by BMRB Social Research and the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre at Surrey University is being managed by the Project Management Panel (PMP).

The study found that traffic light labels are helpful in providing an instant visual of the level of nutrients within a product via the use colour, but they are open to misinterpretation or false assumptions about what the colours (red, orange and green) mean.

Some consumers assumed the colours were nutrient-related, for example, believing saturated fats were always shown in red. Others assumed red, orange and green were used to make the label stand out on the packaging.

Wheel-shaped traffic light labels could be confused with pie charts, with wedge size thought to be meaningful.

Portion sizes were confusing on all label types, the report found. Consumers did not know whether 30g of cereal was a ‘normal’ portion for them and manufacturers’ definitions of portions were inconsistent and varied from one product to another.

Sue Duncan, the former chief government social researcher who chairs the panel, said it was felt important to share these initial findings.

“The initial phase of the evaluation provides some valuable insights into how people are using front-of-pack food labels and was important in shaping the main quantitative phase of the study, which has just begun,” she said.

This will involve interviews with around 3,000 shoppers and provide key evidence for government and other stakeholders on how each labelling scheme (Guideline Daily Amount (GDA), traffic light, and hybrid) is working.

The interviews will be completed by the end of 2008.

The final report, due for release in spring 2009, will be followed by a 12-week consultation.

See the full findings here.

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