The ability of five different front-of-pack labels to assist Australian consumers to identify healthy versus unhealthy foods

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relative ability of different interpretive front-of-pack food labels to alert consumers to both healthier and unhealthier options to inform their food choices.

Methods: One thousand Australians completed an online experiment where they rated the nutritional quality of sets of fictional products pre- and post-randomisation to one of five front-of-pack labels: Health Star Rating, Multiple Traffic Lights, Nutri-Score, Reference Intakes and Warning Label. Two sample z-tests were used to assess the ability of each label to facilitate the correct identification of the least and most healthy product options.

Results: The Nutri-Score was superior in assisting respondents to identify both the healthiest and unhealthiest options. The Health Star Rating ranked second for both outcomes, followed by the Multiple Traffic Lights.

Conclusions: Results reinforce the role of interpretive front-of-pack labels in assisting consumers to understand the nutritional quality of food products and suggest spectrum labels may provide superior utility in assisting consumers to identify both the most and least nutritious products from among available product options.

Implications for public health: The strongest performance of a highly interpretive front-of-pack label (Nutri-Score) featuring colour in a summary indicator suggests potential strategies for enhancing the performance of the Health Star Rating.

Keywords: Health Star Rating; food labels; interpretive; nutrition.