Researchers also determined that centrally located nutrition facts labels are viewed more frequently and for longer than those located peripherally.
Currently, most US nutrition facts labels are positioned peripherally, not centrally, on food packages and, as such, may be less likely than they could be to catch and hold the eye of a potential consumer, according to the study.
In a simulated grocery shopping exercise, 203 participants observed 64 different grocery products displayed on a computer monitor. Each screen contained three elements, the well known nutrition facts label, a picture and list of ingredients and a description of the product with price and quantity information.
These three elements were presented so that one-third of the participants each saw the nutrition facts label on the left, right, and centre. Each subject was asked whether they would consider buying the product. Participants were aware that their eye movements would be tracked, but unaware that the study focus was nutrition information.
Self-reported viewing of nutrition facts label components was higher than objectively measured viewing. 33% of participants self-reported that they almost always look at calorie content on nutrition facts labels, 31% reported that they almost always look at the total fat content, 20% said the same for trans-fat content, 24% for sugar content, and 26% for serving size. However, only 9% of participants actually looked at calorie count for almost all of the products in this study, and about 1% of participants looked at each of these other components (total fat, trans fat, sugar, and serving size) on almost all labels.
When the nutrition facts label was presented in the centre column, subjects read one or more sections of 61% of the labels compared with 37% and 34% of labels among participants randomly assigned to view labels on the left and right hand sides of the screen, respectively. In addition, labels in the centre column received more than 30% more view time than the same labels when located in a side column.
Dan Graham and Robert Jeffrey, division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, said: “Taken together, these results indicate that self-reported nutrition facts label use does not accurately represent in vivo use of labels and their components while engaging in a simulated shopping exercise. In addition, location of labels and of specific label components relate to viewing. Consumers are more likely to view centrally located labels and nutrients nearer the label’s top. Because knowing the amounts of key nutrients that foods contain can influence consumers to make healthier purchases, prominently positioning key nutrients, and labels themselves, could substantially impact public health.”
Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association
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