Oral Presentation Australian & New Zealand Obesity Society 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting

Attributes used by consumers to assess alternative front-of-pack food labelling systems (#89)

Simone Pettigrew 1 , Zenobia Talati 1 , Caroline Miller 2 , Helen Dixon 3 , Bridget Kelly 4 , Bruce Neal 5 , Kylie Ball 6 , Clare Hughes 7 , Trevor Shilton 8
  1. Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide
  3. Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne
  4. University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
  5. George Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Deakin University, Melbourne
  7. Cancer Council NSW, Sydney
  8. National Heart Foundation, Perth, WA, Australia

Governments are increasingly relying on population-level interventions such as food labelling to encourage individuals to make healthier food choices. Such interventions are employed in an attempt to address high and growing levels of obesity and the rapidly increasing prevalence of nutrition-related diseases. There are many front-of-pack labelling systems in existence, but there is inadequate evidence available for policy makers to make informed decisions about the most appropriate system for their national context. The aim of the present study was to explore Australians’ front-of-pack label preferences and the criteria they use to determine these preferences. More than 2,000 consumers aged 10 years and older responded to a national online survey that invited them to choose between the daily intake guide (DIG), multiple traffic lights (MTL), and health star rating (HSR) systems. They were then asked to provide any reasons for their stated preference; they were able to state as many reasons as they wished. The most popular system by a substantial margin was the HSR, with this stronger preference being especially apparent among children. The next most preferred system was the MTL, followed by the DIG. The label attributes most commonly cited as determining respondents’ preferences were (1) ease of understanding and use, (2) speed of use, and (3) salience. The HSR system was considered most effective in terms of ease and speed of use, while the MTL system was perceived to be most salient due to the inclusion of colours. These results provide further evidence of the potential positive impact of the HSR system on consumers’ food choices and suggest that future research assessing front-of-pack labelling systems should ensure the variables of ease and speed of understanding/use and salience are included in study instruments.