Title
An Experimental Study Evaluating the Influence of Front-of-Package Warning Labels on Adolescent’s Purchase Intention of Processed Food Products
Date Issued
01 February 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
MDPI
Abstract
Front-of-package warning labels (WLs) are among the public health policies adopted by some countries, mainly in Latin-America, to tackle childhood obesity; however, their impact is still under review. The aim of this study was to assess, using an experimental design, whether WLs influence purchase intention of processed foods and identification of the healthiest products among adolescents in Peru, in May 2019, just before WLs mandatory implementation. Four hundred forty-nine adolescents from two public schools were randomly assigned to an experimental group (received three different processed products with either zero, one or two WLs, informing if they were high in sugar, sodium and/or saturated fats) or a control group (received the same products but unlabeled). Participants chose which product they would buy, and which they considered to be the healthiest. No differences between groups were found neither in purchase intention (p = 0.386) nor in the identification of the healthiest product (p = 0.322). In both groups, the most-selected product was always the healthiest of the triad (>40% in purchase intention and >80% in identification of the healthiest). Front-of-package WLs did not influence purchase intention, or identification of healthier products among adolescents from public schools in Peru. Mass media and educational campaigns should accompany the WLs implementation to help achieve the policy objective.
Volume
19
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Psicología
Economía, Negocios
Nutrición, Dietética
Epidemiología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85122950717
PubMed ID
Source
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
ISSN of the container
16617827
DOI of the container
10.3390/ijerph19031094
Source funding
Wellcome Trust
Sponsor(s)
Funding: This work was part of the Ancillary Study of the Urban Health in Latin America project (SALURBAL) “Evaluating the Implementation and Effects of Warning Advertising in Food Labels in Peru: A mixed-method Study”. The SALURBAL project is funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 205177/Z/16/Z].
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus