Abstract
Color nutrition information (CNI) based on a traffic light system conveys information about food quality with a glance. The color red typically indicates detrimental food characteristics (e.g., very high sugar content) and aims at inhibiting food shopping and consumption. Red may, however, also elicit cross-modal associations with sweet taste, which is a preferable food characteristic. We conducted two experiments. An eye-tracking study investigated whether CNI has an effect on cue reactivity (dwell time, saccadic latency, wanting/liking) for sweet foods. The participants were presented with images depicting sweets (e.g., cake). Each image was preceded by a colored circle that informed about the sugar content of the food (red = high, green = low, gray = unknown). It was tested whether the red circle would help the participants to direct their gaze away from the ‘high sugar’ item. A second experiment investigated whether colored prime circles (red, green, gray) without nutrition information would influence the assumed sweetness of a food. In Experiment 1, CNI had the opposite of the intended effect. Dwell time and saccadic latency were higher for food items preceded by a red compared to a green circle. This unintended response was positively associated with participants’ liking of sweet foods. CNI did not change the wanting/liking of the displayed foods. In Experiment 2, we found no evidence for color priming on the assumed sweetness of food. Our results question whether CNI is helpful to influence initial cue reactivity toward sweet foods.
Highlights
Food is a primary reinforcer that automatically captures visual attention
We investigated effects of colored nutrition information on initial food cue reactivity
We presented color nutrition information (CNI) that reflected the sugar content of a specific food item and 48 pictures of sweet foods
Summary
Food is a primary reinforcer that automatically captures visual attention. This evolutionary-based mechanism assists with the localization of food sources within the environment and, in turn, enables sufficient caloric uptake by the individual [1]. Studies utilizing neurophysiological measures and eye-tracking have shown that the human attention system very quickly identifies visual food cues and differentiates them from non-food objects [2,3,4]. High-calorie food captures more attention than low-calorie food [5,6]. The increased attention to cues of high-calorie food has become problematic in Western countries because the exposure to such stimuli triggers the urge to eat [7]. Food cues and (high-calorie) foods are almost omnipresent in our everyday lives. A link between individual food cue reactivity (FCR), overeating, and weight gain is not surprising [7]
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