Nutrition labelling systems: the simpler the better, researchers say

The current US nutrition labelling system is the least user-friendly option available, McGill University researchers have found. The labelling is difficult to use and results in consumers making nutrition choices similar to those made by chance. A labelling system that gives each food product a single score out of 100 for nutrition was found to be the most effective and easy to use of a range of systems examined.

“Food shoppers typically have a limited amount of time to make each food choice, and they find the Nutrition Facts labels to be confusing and difficult to use,” said Peter Helfer, lead author of the study and PhD student in Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill.

“One product may be low in fat, but high in sugar, while another product may be just the opposite. Nutrition Facts labels can highlight nutrition conflicts but fail to resolve them. Even educated and motivated shoppers have difficulty picking out the most nutritious product with these labels.”

The UK’s Traffic Light system allowed for slightly better nutrition choices than pure chance, the researchers found, but it took more time to use as the colours of several traffic lights need to be counted and compared.

Countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Canada use labels that certify some foods as nutritious, but not others. While these enabled consumers to make a decision quickly, they didn’t increase nutritious choices.

“Such certification labels are not sufficiently discriminating to produce consistently better nutrition. They also create controversies about exactly where to draw the line between nutritious and harmful foods,” said co-author Thomas Schultz, Professor of Psychology and Computer Science at McGill.

In contrast, the NuVal labelling system enables consumers to make fast and nutritious choices, the researchers say. The NuVal system uses a shelf sticker that indicates the overall nutritional value of each food item with a number from one to 100.

The NuVal scores are calculated by nutrition experts at several prominent US universities such as Yale and Harvard. The researchers say that assigning each product with a single number, the NuVal labels resolve conflicts between the positive and negative nutritional aspects of each food.

The researchers say the widespread availability of low-nutrition, high-calorie food is a major cause of an epidemic of obesity and associated diseases throughout the world.

“Empowering consumers to make healthier food choices with valid and useful nutrition labelling could help to stem this epidemic. If consumers have the information to make nutritious choices, this could nudge food sellers and producers to improve their products,” said Schultz.

The research was published in the December issue of the Annals of the New York Academy of Science.