People Prefer Traffic Light-Colored Nutrition Labels
And if you look at how fat we are. I doubt many people are paying much attention to the nutrition facts on the back of cookie dough ice cream, either.
That's why a new study claims consumers respond better to traffic light-colored nutrition labels.
Presented at the European Congress on Obesity, researchers found shoppers are more likely to identify healthy food when looking at color-coded nutrition labels, instead of typical labels, which show daily nutrients and portion sizes.
For the study, scientists compared two variations of the traffic light system and two different versions of the common nutrition label on mock products, asking participants, nearly 800 Australians, to determine their preferences and ability to comprehend the healthiness of the fake foods.
One traffic light system ranked nutritional content of food by how healthy it is, using red, amber and green dots to rate the food's amount of salt, sugar, saturated fat and total fat.
Experts found that people preferred the traffic lights across all products and those who were shown the traffic light labels were five times more likely to recognize healthier foods than those shown the average daily percentage labels.
More studies are needed, but researchers are already calling for mandatory traffic light labeling in Australia. Who knows if it will pass, but one thing's for sure, right now consumers don't see red. As in STOP eating!
Via EurekAlert!
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In some cases, I could see the traffic-light system being very useful. If someone sees that a product has 10 grams of fat, that number could mean nothing to them. But if they see that number with a yellow light, they'd be aware that the product isn't exactly low in fat, but it isn't overly high in fat either. If an item has a red light, it's an obvious way to show someone that the item has WAY too much of something in it. And if an item has a green light, it's a cue that the item is low in fat/sodium/etc. Sometimes people just need to have the information in a very cut-and-dried way so they understand it.
ReplyAs a society, we are really dumbing down.
ReplySad, isn't it?
ReplyWell, come on, we don't want people to actually have to THINK, do we Mike? That would be way too hard.
ReplyAll your comments, while humorous to me... aren't realistic. And here's why.
See I surround myself with like minded people... that means I have friends that are fit and almost everyone knows the nutrition basics. I can talk "health" with them and and they respond. Everything's good.
Enter clients... see not everyone knows whats a good daily limit for sodium, or how many daily calories they need if they are active/inactive, or how much daily intake of fat is considered normal, or how much sugar is OK. A green, yellow, and red symbol beside each number will help educate these people.
I'm all for it. If anything, It'll make the dumb ones smarter. And believe me... we could all use some of that!
ReplyThe traffic light system is really being pushed here in Australia. Some are saying that it may be too simplistic and people may grab a yellow or green product without undestanding what's in the food.
For example, they said that under the traffic light system diet chocolate milk would be green because its low in fat and low in sugar due to artificial sweetners. In my mind diet chocolate milk is not a green food! I avoid artifical sweetners and artificial colours and flavours which chocolate milk is full of.
If a green light goes on that product then people will think they can eat as much as they want without consequences to their health. Wrong! I am all for giving more information to the public on foods. Just don't make it too simplistic.
ReplyThat's a good point... which is why they still need the normal nutrition label, but with green/yellow/red dots beside the list of nutrients.
ReplyYes, people are dumbing down.
But realistically, not everyone wants to devote their lives to fitness and nutrition, like those of us who read blogs about it. Some people just want an easy way to tell if something is healthy or not.
Seems like a good idea to me.
ReplyI agree with Kellie. When the people see that something is green or yellow colored they'll feel more inclined to eat more of it..like 100 calorie packs. Some people buy 2-3 packs of those and have them in one sitting or throughout the day when they could have bought a bag of chips and had less calories. Though the green would signify 'healthy,' the idea that it's 'guilt-free' will stay.
ReplyI hope most "100 calorie packs" wouldn't qualify for a green or yellow label!
ReplyI hate this idea! Common sense will already tell you what products are most healthy and least healthy. Nutrition labels help you make finer distinctions, like which of two similar products has less sodium. I'm actually more interested in the ingredients list than the nutrition facts - I avoid products that have added salt, corn syrup, or partially hydrogenated oils. I believe that people who aren't interested in nutrition facts aren't going to be interested in colored labels either - they know their potato chips aren't doing them any favors whether or not there's a red label on them; and that people who ARE interested DO want the facts!
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