Polish Consumers’ Understanding of Different Front-of-Package Food Labels: A Randomized Experiment
Valentina A. Andreeva,
Manon Egnell,
Katarzyna Stoś,
Beata Przygoda,
Zenobia Talati,
Mathilde Touvier,
Pilar Galan,
Serge Hercberg,
Simone Pettigrew,
Chantal Julia
Affiliations
Valentina A. Andreeva
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Manon Egnell
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Katarzyna Stoś
National Institute of Public Health NIH-National Research Institute, 00-791 Warsaw, Poland
Beata Przygoda
National Institute of Public Health NIH-National Research Institute, 00-791 Warsaw, Poland
Zenobia Talati
Western Australian Cancer Prevention Research Unit, School of Population Health, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, Australia
Mathilde Touvier
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Pilar Galan
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Serge Hercberg
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Simone Pettigrew
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2042, Australia
Chantal Julia
Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), 93017 Bobigny, France
Dietary practices are a key behavioral factor in chronic disease prevention; one strategy for improving such practices population-wise involves front-of-package labels (FoPL). This online randomized study, conducted in a quota-based sample of 1159 Polish adults (mean age = 40.9 ± 15.4 years), assessed the objective understanding of five FoPL: Health Star Rating, Multiple Traffic Lights, NutriScore, Reference Intakes (RI) and Warning Label. Objective understanding was evaluated by comparing results of two nutritional quality ranking tasks (without/with FoPL) using three food categories (breakfast cereals, cakes, pizza). Associations between FoPL exposure and objective understanding were assessed via multivariable ordinal logistic regression. Compared to RI and across food categories, significant improvement in objective understanding was seen for NutriScore (OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.41–2.91) and Warning Label (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.12–2.32). In age-stratified analyses, significant improvement in objective understanding compared to RI emerged mainly among adults aged 18–30 years randomized to NutriScore (all food categories: OR = 3.88; 95% CI: 2.04–7.36; cakes: OR = 6.88; 95% CI: 3.05–15.51). Relative to RI, NutriScore was associated with some improvement in objective understanding of FoPL across and within food categories, especially among young adults. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate about an EU-wide FoPL model.
