Low wholegrain intake: could the answer be in the label?

Despite the health benefits and recommendations from dietary guidelines, wholegrain food intake remains low across the globe.

Now a new study, published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour (JNEB), has analysed consumer understanding of wholegrain food definitions and food industry labelling practices related to wholegrain foods.

“Without clear regulation and labelling standards, the benefits of educating consumers on how to increase wholegrain intake may be lost,” said lead author Katrina R Kissock, PhD, APD, School of Medical, Indigenous and Health Sciences, University of Wollongong. “This study supports the need for a global wholegrain labelling system based on standardised definitions to help consumers make informed food purchases.”

The study set up 10 focus groups and asked them open-ended questions on four topics: grain food choices and wholegrain consumption; identification of wholegrain foods; perception of labelling; and opinions on hypothetical package labels.

17 food industry representatives were then recruited to examine: awareness and understanding of wholegrain food definitions and regulations; hypothetical adoption of wholegrain food definitions by the food industry; and how definition adoption might impact consumers.

The consumer focus groups in the study expressed scepticism regarding grain food labelling, wholegrain content claims and symbols such as the Health Star Rating and the marketing of products as healthy.

Comments included, “I don’t know how much wholegrain a product has to have to get a label. Does it mean 5% or 3%?” and “I don’t have any idea what 16 grams of wholegrain per serving means.”

Focus group participants had a strong preference towards the use of “wholegrain” in the name of the product as opposed to a separate wholegrain content claim not in the name of the product, such as, “contains wholegrain”. Industry representatives generally didn’t think consumers noticed that level of nuance in front-of-package labelling.

Industry representatives all agreed that the current percentages used by the Whole Grain Initiative definition were appropriate and thought that a simple statement of the percentage of wholegrain in a product was clear and easy to understand.

However, both consumers and food industry representatives identified problems with current labelling of wholegrain foods and highlighted the need for clear, consistent labelling.

“It was evident that limited consumer understanding and confusion related to wholegrain foods contributed to scepticism, perceptions of healthfulness and buying decisions,” Kissock said. “Definitions, regulations and consumer education are strategies that could improve consumption of wholegrain foods.”

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