Food consumers often do not understand the nutritional information given on packaging labels, according to a comprehensive US study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Vanderbilt University Medical Centre researchers have found that the reading and mathematical skills of a significant number of consumers may actually be insufficient to extract needed dietary information from labels. For instance, only 60% of research subjects could calculate the number of carbohydrates consumed if they ate half a bagel, when the serving size was a whole bagel. Only 22% of subjects could determine the amount of net carbohydrates in 2 slices of low-carb bread, and only 23% could determine net carbohydrates in a serving of low-carb spaghetti.
Common reasons for incorrect responses included misapplication of the serving size, confusion by extraneous material on the food label, and incorrect calculations. Researchers said 68% of test participants had at least some university education, and 77% had at least 15-16-year old standard literacy skills.
