Effect of different front-of-package food labels on identification of unhealthy products and intention to purchase the products– A randomised controlled trial in South Africa
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different labels on participants identifying products high in nutrients of
concern; identifying unhealthy products, and intention to purchase unhealthy products. This blinded randomised
controlled trial included a representative sample of South African households (n = 1951). Per household we
selected a member primarily responsible for food purchases. Participants were randomised into the Warning
Label (WL), Guideline Dietary Amounts (GDA) or Multiple Traffic Light (MTL) arms. Each participant answered
questions in a no label condition (control) followed by same questions in the label condition (experiment).
Complete data were collected and analysed for 1948 participants (WL = 33.7%, GDA = 32.1% and MTL =
34.2%). The probability of correctly identifying products high in nutrients of concern and identifying products as
being unhealthy was higher with the WL compared to the GDA or MTL for most items. There was no difference in
performance between the GDA and the MTL when considering all items together.