Premium
Consumer attitudes and misconceptions of foods with sodium claims: Results of a randomized mock label experiment
Author(s) -
Wong Christina L.,
Arcand JoAnne,
Mendoza Julio,
Qi Ying,
L'Abbé Mary R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.124.5
Subject(s) - population , medicine , nutrition facts label , public health , marketing , environmental health , psychology , business , nursing
In light of the public health priority to reduce dietary sodium, we evaluated consumers’ attitudes and understanding of permitted sodium claims on food labels. Online panellists were exposed to 4 identical mock canned soup labels, in random order, with the same Nutrition Facts table which differed only by the claim it carried. We tested 3 types of sodium claims (nutrient content (NC), function, disease risk reduction (DRR)) and a ‘tastes great’ claim acting as a control. Overall, all sodium claims resulted in higher ratings in attitudes toward the claim (i.e. attractiveness, clarity and credibility), attitudes towards the product (i.e. perceived healthiness) and purchasing intentions compared to the control claim (p<0.001). The NC and DRR claims were consistently rated the highest and similar to each other, yet regulatory criteria for foods to carry such claims differ greatly. Sodium claims, that do not mention health or disease, still infer health benefits. In addition, panelists attributed additional health benefits to products carrying sodium claims, beyond the well established relationship between sodium and hypertension, such as for weight loss, diabetes and constipation (p<0.001). This study demonstrates the need for additional efforts to educate consumers on common misconceptions of the benefits of sodium reduction, especially as population wide sodium reduction initiatives move forward. Grant Funding Source : AFMNet; CIHR operating grant/Canadian Stroke Network; CIHR Strategic Training Program in Public Health Policy (CW), CIHR Strategic Training in Population Intervention for Chronic Disease Prevention: A Pan‐Canadian Program (Grant#53893) (CW); Ontario Graduate Scholarship (CW); Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship (JA); University of Toronto McHenry Chair (ML)