European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Tassel House, Rue Paul Emile Janson 6, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Proc Nutr Soc. 2012 May;71(2):229-36. doi: 10.1017/S0029665112000043. Epub 2012 Mar 5.
Health claims on food products are often used as a means to highlight scientifically proven health benefits associated with consuming those foods. But do consumers understand and trust health claims? This paper provides an overview of recent research on consumers and health claims including attitudes, understanding and purchasing behaviour. A majority of studies investigated selective product-claim combinations, with ambiguous findings apart from consumers' self-reported generic interest in health claims. There are clear indications that consumer responses differ substantially according to the nature of carrier product, the type of health claim, functional ingredient used or a combination of these components. Health claims tend to be perceived more positively when linked to a product with an overall positive health image, whereas some studies demonstrate higher perceived credibility of products with general health claims (e.g. omega-3 and brain development) compared to disease risk reduction claims (e.g. bioactive peptides to reduce risk of heart disease), others report the opposite. Inconsistent evidence also exists on the correlation between having a positive attitude towards products with health claims and purchase intentions. Familiarity with the functional ingredient and/or its claimed health effect seems to result in a more favourable evaluation. Better nutritional knowledge, however, does not automatically lead to a positive attitude towards products carrying health messages. Legislation in the European Union requires that the claim is understood by the average consumer. As most studies on consumers' understanding of health claims are based on subjective understanding, this remains an area for more investigation.
食品的健康声称通常被用作强调与食用这些食品相关的已被科学证明的健康益处的一种手段。但是消费者理解并信任健康声称吗？本文综述了消费者与健康声称相关的最新研究，包括态度、理解和购买行为。大多数研究都调查了特定的产品-声称组合，除了消费者对健康声称的普遍兴趣的自我报告外，结果并不明确。有明确的迹象表明，消费者的反应根据载体产品的性质、健康声称的类型、使用的功能成分或这些成分的组合而有很大差异。当健康声称与整体健康形象积极的产品相关联时，往往会被更正面地感知，而有些研究表明，与疾病风险降低声称（例如生物活性肽降低心脏病风险）相比，具有一般健康声称（例如欧米伽-3 和大脑发育）的产品被认为更可信，而另一些研究则报告相反的结果。对于对具有健康声称的产品持积极态度与购买意愿之间的相关性，也存在不一致的证据。对功能成分及其声称的健康效果的熟悉程度似乎会导致更有利的评价。然而，更好的营养知识并不一定会自动导致对带有健康信息的产品产生积极的态度。欧盟的立法要求普通消费者能够理解该声称。由于大多数关于消费者对健康声称的理解的研究都是基于主观理解，因此这仍然是一个需要进一步研究的领域。
