Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling, Nutrition, Quality and Consumer Choices

Abstract

This article reviews recent research on front of pack (FoP) nutritional labelling systems and their relationship to consumer choice. The mechanics of the major FoP label types are described, and recent research that tests the impact of these FoP systems on consumer choice is reviewed. Recent theoretical developments in food consumer choice are then discussed. The implications of these developments for the major FoP label types are then developed. The article concludes that several major types of FoP labels, falling into two major groups, evaluative and reductive, are now fully developed and are being deployed. FoP research that is developmental in nature is thus redundant. There is no possibility that evaluative and reductive types can both be effective. Therefore, there is a critical need for a research that tests these FoP labels and that identifies whether evaluative or reductive labels are compatible with food consumer choice before further deployment occurs.