Preliminary Assessment of Changes in Labels Required by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990

Since food labels first became required on certain consumer packaged food products 18 years ago, researchers have been concerned with consumers' perceptions and use of nutrition information on food labels (Asam and Bucklin 1973; Brown, Kelley, and Lee 1991; Daly 1976; Cole and Gaeth 1990; Lenahan et al. 1973; Levy et al. 1985; Moorman 1990). Results concerning the effectiveness of disclosure of nutrition information has often been equivocal; for example, in summarizing results from six studies Jacoby, Chestnut, and Silberman concluded that "the vast majority of consumers neither use nor comprehend nutrition information in arriving at good purchase decisions" (1977, 126). Additional concerns arose in 1987 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted its ban on the use of health claims on food labels which led to some exaggerated use of terms as "high fiber," "low fat," "low sodium," and "lite." Summarizing current nutrition labeling conditions, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan referred to the supermarket as "a Tower of Babel |where~ consumers need to be linguists, scientists, and mind readers" (Consumer Reports 1990, 326). Such concerns led to the passage of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990. While this Act does not specify the structural format required for presenting nutrition information, it identifies several changes concerning nutrition information that should be available on a label. A primary objective of the Act is to permit consumers to make more informed decisions about food purchases. The government has estimated that improvements in the quality of consumers' diets could result in $100 billion in reduced health care costs over 20 years (Ingersoll 1991). The primary purpose of this study is to provide a preliminary comparison of consumer attitudes and perceptions between nutrition labels consistent with nutritional requirements in the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act and a label consistent with regulatory requirements prior to the NLEA. Two alternative labels that comply with the 1990 amendment were tested against the type of label in use at the time of the study. These three types of nutrition labels were tested across conditions where the nutritional value provided was varied along with inclusion or exclusion of a "warning" that focused on potential risks associated with poor nutrition. BACKGROUND Overview of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) contains a number of important provisions for consumers and food marketers. These provisions include the specification of minimum nutrition information that must be available on all processed foods, delineation of authority of the FDA, federal preemption of state food labeling and health claims jurisdictions, and the establishment of operational definitions of frequently used terms such as "lite," "low fat," and "reduced calories" (Mueller 1991). The law allows claims of the presence (absence) of any nutrient as relating to disease or health-related conditions only when "there is significant scientific agreement, among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate such claims, that the claim is supported by such evidence" (Best 1991; Nutrition Labeling and Education Act 1990, 6). Also, legitimacy of claims about specific nutrients will be contingent upon the presence or absence of other specified nutrients. For example, under most conditions a "no cholesterol" content claim will not be allowed if the food in question contains a level of saturated fat determined to increase the risk of a disease or health-related condition. Such regulations will require changes in the on-package claims for health benefits by many food manufacturers (Colford 1991). Of particular interest in this study are the provisions for the nutrition information required on a label found in section 2 of the Act. It specifies that labels must include (1) serving sizes (expressed in common household measures), (2) number of servings per container, (3) total number of calories (derived from all sources), (4) calories derived from total fat, and (5) amounts of each of the following nutrients in each serving: total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, and total protein. …