Currently, nutritional labelling is difficult to interpret and time-consuming to read. This is a major problem as many consumers are overweight and resort to eating readymade meals and snacks. These are likely to be energy-dense food and beverages that are high in fat, sugar and artificial preservatives. Simplifying nutritional labels could help stem rising obesity rates. Front-of-pack labels are a tool to help overcome this problem by providing consumers with understandable, visible information to aid them into making healthier food choices. This study expands on past research by evaluating 7 separate pre-existing, proposed and fictitious front-of-pack nutritional labels. It includes Information, Image or a combination of both Information and Image based labels. Plus No label, which is a control variable to determine the effectiveness of each label. The nutritional labels were placed on a chicken salad sandwich which was kept consistent for all 14 manipulations. The nutritional components were altered to reflect either an Unhealthy or Healthy sandwich. The design of this experiment is a 2 (nutritional level: Healthy, Unhealthy) X7 (labelling system: Traffic Light, Star, Running, Walking, Third Party, Daily Intake, Caloric, None) between subjects design. The results provide evidence of the urgent need to communicate nutritional information more effectively. Images, simplicity, colour and reliability, are determining label elements that influence consumption behaviour. The results from this study help to understand behaviours associated to labels. This study draws differences between those who partake in health behaviours and those who do not. This information could help to trigger support for a new, more effective front-of-pack labelling system to be put in place globally to guide consumers in making healthier food choices.

Performing evidence-based reviews (EBR) is a growing and important area of research, and more graduate students should be educated in this area. EBRs provide conclusions based on science and follow a specific methodology to decrease bias, consider all pertinent science on the topic, and have transparency. This thesis is two-fold and includes: 1) a faculty course manual on how to facilitate a college course on EBR and 2) an EBR manuscript on the utility of nutrition labeling to affect consumers’ ability to select more nutritious products and whether or not nutrition labeling can affect purchase and consumption of more nutritious products. This EBR is timely in that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has called for a moratorium on Front-of-Pack labeling (FOP) until two Institute of Medicine Committees have produced their reports and FDA has interpreted those reports. The intention of the manuscript is that it will aid in this interpretation. Of 978 articles collected, 699 were excluded using exclusion/inclusion criteria, 253 were identified as secondary articles, and 26 were used for the EBR. Results: Ten studies answered question #1 on whether or not consumers can pick a more nutritious product by reading labels and 21 answered question #2 on whether consumers actually change their purchasing and/or eating behavior by using labels. Studies ranged from simple cross-sectional studies that used survey data to more complex studies that collected sales data or performed in-store observations. In conclusion, consumers are able to use food labels to pick more nutritious products. Preliminary evidence suggests that a subset of health conscious consumers will read food labels to select a healthier product within a product category. Less evidence exists that reading labels actually results in a change of food intake. More intervention rather than survey studies are required to address this issue. In addition, the next stages of investigation should include looking at the whole diet, rather than just individual foods, and finally what affect the whole diet may have on overall health.

Objetivo: Evaluar la preferencia de dos diseños de etiquetado frontal en productos industrializados (octógono vs semáforo-GDA). Material y métodos: Estudio descriptivo transversal en usuarios de mercados de Lima Metropolitana (Chorrillos, Breña, La Victoria y La Molina). Se utilizó una encuesta previamente validada que constó de 4 preguntas basadas en láminas con cada etiquetado nutricional: ¿Cuál de los productos le parece más saludable?”, “¿Por qué escogió este?”, “¿Cuál de las dos etiquetas le parece más fácil de entender?” y “¿Cuál de los dos etiquetados le gusta más?”. Los datos se presentan en porcentajes y medianas (rango intercuartil) y las diferencias entre los grupos se evaluaron con la prueba exacta de Fisher (datos categóricos). Los datos se analizaron en el programa Stata v15. Resultados: Se encuestaron 93 usuarios, el Semáforo-GDA fue elegido como el etiquetado más saludable (74.3%) y el que más les gustó (69.9%); sin embargo, el octógono fue el que les pareció más fácil de entender (58.4%). La mayoría de los usuarios consideró el semáforo como más saludable debido a que “tiene más verde en la etiqueta”, lo que podría confundir la finalidad de la advertencia nutricional, minimizando el impacto del símbolo rojo y/o amarillo por tenerlos en menor cantidad de éstos. Conclusiones: Los participantes mencionaron que el octógono era más sencillo y fácil de leer; los símbolos verdes del semáforo-GDA podrían influir en que el producto se perciba como más saludable. / Objective: To evaluate the preference of two designs of frontal labeling in industrialized products (octagon vs traffic light-GDA). Material and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study in market users of Metropolitan Lima (Chorrillos, Breña, La Victoria and La Molina). We used a previously validated survey that consisted of 4 questions: “Which of the products do you find most healthy?", "Why did you choose this one?", "Which of the two labels do you find easiest to understand?", and "Which of the two labeled do you like the most?". The data are presented in percentages and median (interquartile range) and the differences between the groups were evaluated with Fisher's exact test (categorical data). The data was analyzed in the Stata v15 program. Results: 93 users were surveyed, the traffic light-GDA was chosen as the healthiest label (74.3%) and the one they liked the most (69.9%); however, the octagon was the one that seemed easier to understand (58.4%). The majority of users considered the traffic light-GDA as healthier because it "has more green on the label". Conclusions: Participants mentioned that the octagon was simpler and easier to read; the green symbols of the traffic light-GDA could influence that the product is perceived as healthier. Which could confuse the purpose of the nutritional warning, minimizing the impact of the red and/or yellow symbol by having them in less quantity than these. / Trabajo de investigación

El objetivo general de esta investigación es analizar la importancia de la iconoplástica y del diseño de información para generar una mejor percepción al diseño del etiquetado frontal en los productos industrializados. Por este motivo, la hipótesis planteada para esta investigación es la propuesta de intervención del estudio iconoplástico y el diseño de información en el sistema de etiquetado frontal generan una mejor percepción en los jóvenes adultos. Esta investigación es cualitativa porque se realizaron encuestas a 50 consumidores para conocer sus molestias visuales sobre el etiquetado frontal. Además, se entrevistó a abogados e ingenieros agroindustriales para saber si el etiquetado frontal de advertencias puede ser modificado. Por último, se entrevistó a diseñadores para corroborar los errores técnicos que presenta este sistema de etiquetado en cuanto a diseño gráfico. Para esta investigación la solución consiste en la modificación del etiquetado frontal de productos industrializados. Para ello, se utiliza una retícula para ordenar la información de manera profesional, se cambió la forma de octágono porque da más espacio a la composición. Como resultados se obtuvo que los consumidores consideran una buena propuesta ya que los símbolos se organizan de mejor manera dentro de un espacio reducido. Las conclusiones de este proyecto es que el estudio iconoplástico y el diseño de la información ayudan a resolver la gráfica del etiquetado frontal puesto que la información se organiza mejor. Además, este proyecto fue testeado por un público piloto y se concluyó que generaría impacto en cualquier grupo porque la está mejor organizada. / The main objective for this research is to analyze the importance of iconoplastic and design information to create a better perception on front-of-pack labelling of industrialized products. For this reason, the hypothesis is that the intervention approach of the iconoplastic study and design information on front-of-pack labelling creates a better perception in young adults. This research is qualitative because surveys were made to 50 consumers that confirms their visual disturbance about the front-of-pack labelling design. Also, lawyers and Agro-industrial engineers were interviewed to prove that this labelling could be modified in the future. Finally, designers were also interviewed to corroborate some graphic design technical issues. The research’s solution consists on modifying the front-of-pack labelling of industrialized products. For this, a grid was used for organizing all the information to create uniformity between the symbols, the form was changed from octagon to hexagon, the typography was changed to Franklin Gothic Condensed because it leaves more blank space for the composition. As a result, it was obtained that consumers consider this is a good solution because the symbols are organized in a better way. The conclusions that were found at the end of this project are that the iconoplastic study and the design information help to resolve graphic problems that preset the front-of-pack labelling because the information is organized on grids. Also, this project was only tested on a small group of people, but they consider this solution could generate impact in any public because the information is better organized. / Trabajo de investigación

No description available.

El objetivo general de esta investigación es analizar la importancia de la iconoplástica y del diseño de información para generar una mejor percepción al diseño del etiquetado frontal en los productos industrializados. Por este motivo, la hipótesis planteada para esta investigación es la propuesta de intervención del estudio iconoplástico y el diseño de información en el sistema de etiquetado frontal generan una mejor percepción en los jóvenes adultos. Esta investigación es cualitativa porque se realizaron encuestas a 50 consumidores para conocer sus molestias visuales sobre el etiquetado frontal. Además, se entrevistó a abogados e ingenieros agroindustriales para saber si el etiquetado frontal de advertencias puede ser modificado. Por último, se entrevistó a diseñadores para corroborar los errores técnicos que presenta este sistema de etiquetado en cuanto a diseño gráfico. Para esta investigación la solución consiste en la modificación del etiquetado frontal de productos industrializados. Para ello, se utiliza una retícula para ordenar la información de manera profesional, se cambió la forma de octágono porque da más espacio a la composición. Como resultados se obtuvo que los consumidores consideran una buena propuesta ya que los símbolos se organizan de mejor manera dentro de un espacio reducido. Las conclusiones de este proyecto es que el estudio iconoplástico y el diseño de la información ayudan a resolver la gráfica del etiquetado frontal puesto que la información se organiza mejor. Además, este proyecto fue testeado por un público piloto y se concluyó que generaría impacto en cualquier grupo porque la está mejor organizada. / The main objective for this research is to analyze the importance of iconoplastic and design information to create a better perception on front-of-pack labelling of industrialized products. For this reason, the hypothesis is that the intervention approach of the iconoplastic study and design information on front-of-pack labelling creates a better perception in young adults. This research is qualitative because surveys were made to 50 consumers that confirms their visual disturbance about the front-of-pack labelling design. Also, lawyers and Agro-industrial engineers were interviewed to prove that this labelling could be modified in the future. Finally, designers were also interviewed to corroborate some graphic design technical issues. The research’s solution consists on modifying the front-of-pack labelling of industrialized products. For this, a grid was used for organizing all the information to create uniformity between the symbols, the form was changed from octagon to hexagon, the typography was changed to Franklin Gothic Condensed because it leaves more blank space for the composition. As a result, it was obtained that consumers consider this is a good solution because the symbols are organized in a better way. The conclusions that were found at the end of this project are that the iconoplastic study and the design information help to resolve graphic problems that preset the front-of-pack labelling because the information is organized on grids. Also, this project was only tested on a small group of people, but they consider this solution could generate impact in any public because the information is better organized. / Trabajo de investigación

Creating a conducive environment for healthy eating can be achieved by empowering consumers with the necessary information to make informed nutritional choices. As a result, nutritional labeling has become increasingly imperative in assisting individuals in their daily purchasing decisions. Although research suggests that front-of-pack labeling is an effective means of informing consumers about healthier food options, no single labeling system has proven successful in this regard. The absence of a definitive labeling system ideal for all purposes makes it challenging to determine the most effective one. This uncertainty has led to a gap in the literature, which provided an opportunity for further research to examine the various labels and related concepts and factors. This dissertation aimed to fill the gap in the literature by studying two popular front-of-pack labeling systems: The Health Star Rating system and Nutri-Score. Four research chapters have been included to achieve this objective. The study commenced with a systematic review of the Health Star Rating label in the literature. The next chapters examined the impact of front-of-pack nutrition labels on consumers' food choices and preferences. The research investigated how the presence or absence of a label influences consumer decision-making and how individual differences play a role in interacting with these nutrition labels. Finally, the performance of the nutrition labels is examined in the context of existing beliefs and attitudes. This last study provided a fresh perspective on the effect of Nutri-Score on food choices by exploring its impact on consumers’ prior beliefs, intuitive thinking, analytical processing, and judgment of healthiness. In conclusion, the body of literature reviewed and the experimental data gathered in this thesis suggest that food labels are effective at influencing consumer choice; however, due to this, special caution must be exercised due to the risk that they could be used more as a marketing tool than as a genuine aid to informed choice.