European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Brussels, Belgium.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Nov;64 Suppl 3:S14-9. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.204.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Nutrition labels are potentially a major instrument for enabling consumers to make healthier food choices, but current insights into how nutrition labels are used by consumers in real-world shopping situations are limited, making the science-based formulation of new labelling policies and the evaluation of existing ones difficult. The objective of the European Union-funded project Food Labelling to Advance Better Education for Life (FLABEL) is to determine how nutrition labelling can affect dietary choices, consumer habits and food-related health issues.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: A wide range of qualitative and quantitative consumer research methods is being used, including physical auditing, label sorting tasks, eye tracking and electrodermal response, structured interviews and analysis of retail scanner data.
First results from the project show that, on the basis of consumer responses, nutrition labels available in Europe can be categorised as non-directive, semidirective or directive. Penetration of nutrition labelling on food and drink packages in five product categories seems widespread, with the nutrition table on the back of packs being the most prominent format (found on 84% of over 37,000 products audited in 28 countries). The higher penetration observed in Northern Europe is paralleled by more public health campaigns in this region alerting consumers to nutrition labelling systems and elements covered therein (for example, calories, salt and fat).
The findings to date indicate that nutrition labelling is widespread in Europe but formats and level of detail may differ between countries and products. Upcoming studies within FLABEL will decipher whether and how the various elements of nutrition labels affect attention, liking, understanding, use and dietary choices, and what the implications are for stakeholders such as policy makers.
背景/目的：营养标签有可能成为让消费者做出更健康食品选择的主要工具，但目前对消费者在实际购物情境中如何使用营养标签的了解有限，这使得基于科学的新标签政策制定和现有政策评估变得困难。欧盟资助的项目“食品标签促进更好的终身教育（FLABEL）”的目的是确定营养标签如何影响饮食选择、消费者习惯和与食品相关的健康问题。
研究对象/方法：正在使用广泛的定性和定量消费者研究方法，包括物理审计、标签分类任务、眼动追踪和皮肤电反应、结构化访谈以及零售扫描器数据分析。
该项目的初步结果表明，根据消费者的反应，欧洲现有的营养标签可以分为非直接、半直接或直接。在五个产品类别中，食品和饮料包装上的营养标签似乎广泛存在，包装背面的营养表是最突出的格式（在 28 个国家审计的超过 37000 种产品中，有 84%的产品上有这种格式）。在北欧观察到的更高渗透率与该地区更多的公共卫生运动相吻合，这些运动提醒消费者注意营养标签系统及其涵盖的内容（例如，卡路里、盐和脂肪）。
迄今为止的研究结果表明，营养标签在欧洲广泛存在，但格式和详细程度可能因国家和产品而异。FLABEL 中的即将进行的研究将解析营养标签的各个要素是否以及如何影响注意力、喜好、理解、使用和饮食选择，以及对政策制定者等利益相关者的影响。
