Effects On Consumers’ Subjective Understanding And Liking Of Front-Pack Nutritional Labels: A Study On Polish Consumers

In the last decade we have witnessed a sharp increase in food-related diseases, to the point that according to some studies half of the world population could be obese as early as 2030. This phenomenon has led many governments to undertake policies aimed at combating obesity. Among the measures implemented, one that has been much discussed in the last few years is that of front-of-pack nutritional labeling, which aims at inducing consumers to follow healthier and more balanced diets. With this study, we tested the potential effectiveness of the new labeling scheme promoted by Italy, the Nutrinform Battery, on the Polish market. In fact, Poland represents a country that has several ideal characteristics for this study: it is a large country, the fifth of the European Union by population; has a rate of food-related noncommunicable diseases similar to that of the rest of Europe and has already introduced some measures to reduce obesity levels. Among these, there is also a nutritional front-of-pack label (Healthy Choice), which, however, has not been widely used. With 23%, Poland is the eleventh country in the European Union for obesity in the adult population. Our research compared Nutrinform, which provides specific data on the main nutrients, with Nutriscore, a system that offers a summary assessment of a product’s healthiness. The study was carried out on a representative sample of Polish consumers, who found some typical food products of the country labelled with the two systems. The results of the experiment rewarded the Nutrinform Battery, preferred by consumers for liking, complexity and help-to-shop. The Italian system resulted to be more educational than the Nutriscore, as shown by the questionnaires filled in by the participants before and after the tests. Finally, the effects of Nutrinform Battery were less variable depending on income and age.