Nutrient warning labels work in South Africa: Results from a randomized controlled trial

A new study from South Africa comparing three different front-of-package (FOP) labeling schemes found that a nutrient warning label helped more participants correctly identify unhealthy products and more strongly reduced their intention to purchase those products, compared to a “multiple traffic light” label and a Guideline Daily Amounts label. These findings, published in Appetite, come […]

Nutrition claims on sugary fruit drinks can lead to less healthy choices for children, new study finds

Parents are more likely to choose a fruit drink with added sugar for their young child when the drink’s packaging includes nutrition-related claims, researchers with the Global Food Research Program found in a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This study is among the first to look at how claims influence parents’ […]

Nutrient warnings outperform other labels among Colombian adults: Results from a randomized controlled trial

A study published today in PLOS ONE found that for Colombian adults, nutrient warning labels work better than two other common front-of-package (FOP) label types for discouraging consumption of ultra-processed foods. The experiment Researchers at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and UNC-Chapel Hill conducted a study involving over 8,000 Colombian adults. In this experiment, each participant […]

Picture this: Pictorial health warnings discourage parents from buying sugary drinks for kids

A study published this week in PLOS Medicine is the first to examine in a realistic store setting whether pictorial health warnings on sugary drinks have an impact on which beverages parents choose to buy for their children. For this randomized trial, parents of children ages 2–12 years were given a shopping task in the UNC Mini Mart — a […]

Lessons learned from evaluations of sweetened beverage tax policies

To date, over 50 countries and smaller jurisdictions around the world have enacted taxes on sugary drinks to improve population health. These taxes aim to reduce consumers’ sugary drink intake and encourage companies to offer healthier product options. They can also raise revenue to support other health promotion efforts. This policy approach has gained much momentum over […]

Innovative online grocery store takes nutrition research to a new level

Researchers have developed a new online store that can be used for testing the impact of different policies and interventions on consumers’ purchasing behavior. Lola’s Grocery was designed to have the look and feel of a typical modern online grocery. Users can search for a bag of organic Gala apples or a carton of white […]