Do Not Be Fooled By Deceptive Nutrition Labeling On Food Packaging

Do Not Be Fooled By Deceptive Nutrition Labeling On Food Packaging
Have you ever bought a candy bar and instead of examining the nutritional information on the wrapper, you go for the color of the calorie label instead? A candy bar with a green calorie label sounds healthy right? The color green is always associated with general well being and the environment, therefore you buy that particular candy bar instead of the others with red or white calorie labels.

A Cornell University researcher uncovered some data regarding the color of calorie labels tagged on food packaging. It seems like a lot of people believe that eating healthy depends on the color of a food item’s wrapper. For instance, people believe that by choosing food products with a green calorie label, they will be consuming healthier fare as compared to those with white or red calorie labels, even though the calorie count is identical. The journal Health Communication has just published this study currently.

Johnathon Schuldt, Assistant Professor of Communication and director of Cornell University’s Social Cognition and Communication Lab, stated that a lot of calorie labels are now included on the wrappers of food stuffs, even sweets like candy and chocolate bars. He also said that this effect was also significantly seen among folks who were advocates of healthy eating.

The study covers the implication that calorie label colors can influence people’s perceptions of what they think is healthy among the lot of food choices regardless of the definite nutritional data supplied by the label. The results have acknowledged the consequences for nutrition labeling even with the prevalence of calorie labels found in the front of a product’s wrapper or packaging in the U.S.

The findings recommend that color and design of the labels might be worthy of attention just like the nutritional data they give. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have thought about creating a consistent front-of-package labeling scheme and the study might come in handy for this plan.

Article Source: www.news.health.com

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