Researchers Suggest Food Products With FOP Nutritional Labels Present ‘Improved Quality’ Through the Years
A 16-year study on the effects of FOP nutrition labels on food products proposes an association between optional labels and nutritional quality within the foods, alongside with their competitors’ foods.
A more-than-a-decade-and-a-half study on the effects of FOP nutrition labels on food products proposes an association between optional labels and nutritional quality within the foods, alongside with their competitors' foods.
Fox News reported that study findings which the North Carolina State University researchers conducted were released this week.
At present, FOP food labels are voluntary in the food industry, reports said. However, a lot of major brands have espoused the labels on top of the more common "nutrition facts" which the Food and Drug Administration requires, and frequently seen on the sides or backs of food packaging.
For this particular study's purposes, the authors said they looked at the "Facts Up Front" label style which frequently exhibits particular nutritional standards including calorie, fat, sugar, and sodium content for each serving.
The statement said, across all food categories with at least some brands had FOP labels, there was a 12.5-percent drop in calories, 12.97-percent decline in saturated fat, 12.62-percent sugar reduction, and 4.74-percent reduction in sodium.
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Data Collected from More than 20,000 Products
In a press release, Rishika Rishika, co-author of the study and a marketing associate professor at North Carolina University's Poole College of Management said, they wanted to know if food businesses were responding to the rising interest of the public in consuming healthier food.
Meaning, Rishika explained, they wanted to find out if the "market is driving change in food products' nutrition." And the evidence proposes, "That is precisely what's happening."
Researchers were able to collect their data from more than 20,000 products across more than 9,000 brands from 1996 to 2011.
During the study, they concentrated in two criteria which include: the manner certain food classifications changed through the years following at least a single product implemented the FOP labeling, and the manner some food categories either changed or did not change when none of the products in the classification espoused the said labeling.
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The Link Between FOP Labeling and Changes in Food Products' Nutritional Content
The NC State researchers also said the study findings presented a clear link between FOP labeling and the changes in food products' nutritional content.
The study authors added, food products that had FOP labeling presented improved nutritional quality "as did the competitors' products."
Rishika believed their research supports her original hypothesis indicating that FOP labels led to competitive pressure other labels in that same classification to revolutionize and improve their products' nutritional quality.
Moreover, the study took specific note of trends that arose, which include links showing "premium" brands to be more receptive compared to the non-premium products.
The study admitted though, that additional and more extensive research should be done to identify if consumers were more persuaded by the fact that several brands or labels opt to showcase the front-of-package labels and thus, gaining more trust among the customers, or that the FOP packages simply made it easier for shoppers to shop or purchase food products.
These, Rishika elaborated, are the questions needed to be answered in future studies.
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Sep 22, 2020 08:20 AM EDT
