Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial
In Italy, discussions are currently ongoing to implement a front-of-pack nutrition label (FoPL) while a growing number of European countries are adopting the Nutri-Score. The effectiveness of the Nutri-Score among Italian consumers requires further investigation. This study compared five FoPLs among...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/8/2307 |
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| author | Morgane Fialon Manon Egnell Zenobia Talati Pilar Galan Louise Dréano-Trécant Mathilde Touvier Simone Pettigrew Serge Hercberg Chantal Julia |
| author_facet | Morgane Fialon Manon Egnell Zenobia Talati Pilar Galan Louise Dréano-Trécant Mathilde Touvier Simone Pettigrew Serge Hercberg Chantal Julia |
| author_sort | Morgane Fialon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In Italy, discussions are currently ongoing to implement a front-of-pack nutrition label (FoPL) while a growing number of European countries are adopting the Nutri-Score. The effectiveness of the Nutri-Score among Italian consumers requires further investigation. This study compared five FoPLs among Italian participants (Health Star Rating system, multiple traffic lights, Nutri-Score, reference intakes, warning symbol) in terms of food choices and understanding of the labels by consumers. In 2019, 1032 Italian consumers completed an online survey in which they were asked to select one product they would likely purchase from a set of three foods with different nutrient profiles and then classify the products within the set according to their nutritional quality, first with no label and then with one of the five FoPLs on the pack. While no significant difference across labels was observed for food choices, the Nutri-Score demonstrated the highest overall performance in helping consumers to correctly rank the products according to their nutritional quality compared to the reference intakes (OR = 2.18 (1.50–3.17), <i>p</i>-value < 0.0001). Our results provide new insights on the effectiveness of the Nutri-Score, which would be a relevant tool to inform Italian consumers on the nutritional quality of food products. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:02:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f7a80970fc9429fad3270c34437e2d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:02:49Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f7a80970fc9429fad3270c34437e2d32023-11-20T08:41:17ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432020-07-01128230710.3390/nu12082307Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled TrialMorgane Fialon0Manon Egnell1Zenobia Talati2Pilar Galan3Louise Dréano-Trécant4Mathilde Touvier5Simone Pettigrew6Serge Hercberg7Chantal Julia8Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceSchool of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley, WA 6102, AustraliaSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceThe George Institute for Global Health, Newtown, Sydney 2042, AustraliaSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceSorbonne Paris Nord University, Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93000 Bobigny, FranceIn Italy, discussions are currently ongoing to implement a front-of-pack nutrition label (FoPL) while a growing number of European countries are adopting the Nutri-Score. The effectiveness of the Nutri-Score among Italian consumers requires further investigation. This study compared five FoPLs among Italian participants (Health Star Rating system, multiple traffic lights, Nutri-Score, reference intakes, warning symbol) in terms of food choices and understanding of the labels by consumers. In 2019, 1032 Italian consumers completed an online survey in which they were asked to select one product they would likely purchase from a set of three foods with different nutrient profiles and then classify the products within the set according to their nutritional quality, first with no label and then with one of the five FoPLs on the pack. While no significant difference across labels was observed for food choices, the Nutri-Score demonstrated the highest overall performance in helping consumers to correctly rank the products according to their nutritional quality compared to the reference intakes (OR = 2.18 (1.50–3.17), <i>p</i>-value < 0.0001). Our results provide new insights on the effectiveness of the Nutri-Score, which would be a relevant tool to inform Italian consumers on the nutritional quality of food products.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/8/2307nutritional labelingfood choicescomprehensionfront-of-pack nutrition labelItalian consumersNutri-Score |
| spellingShingle | Morgane Fialon Manon Egnell Zenobia Talati Pilar Galan Louise Dréano-Trécant Mathilde Touvier Simone Pettigrew Serge Hercberg Chantal Julia Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial Nutrients nutritional labeling food choices comprehension front-of-pack nutrition label Italian consumers Nutri-Score |
| title | Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Effectiveness of Different Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels among Italian Consumers: Results from an Online Randomized Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | effectiveness of different front of pack nutrition labels among italian consumers results from an online randomized controlled trial |
| topic | nutritional labeling food choices comprehension front-of-pack nutrition label Italian consumers Nutri-Score |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/8/2307 |
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