In 1990, nutrition labeling—that handy chart that gives us the information we need to make healthy choices—was added to nearly all packaged foods. But according to researchers from the FDA, Tufts University, and the National Cancer Institute, many people lack the health literacy to understand the information and use it as intended.
The researchers analyzed data on 3,185 U.S. adults from the Health Information National Trends Survey, conducted in 2013. Participants were asked to view an ice-cream nutrition label and answer 4 questions that tested their ability to apply basic arithmetic and understanding of percentages to interpret the label. They also reported their intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, fruits, and vegetables.
About one-quarter of the participants could not determine the calorie content of the full ice-cream container; 42% could not estimate the effect on daily calorie intake of foregoing 1 serving; 41% could not calculate the percentage daily value of calories in a single serving; and 21% could not estimate the number of servings equal to 60 g of carbohydrates.
Higher scores of label understanding were associated with consuming more vegetables and fewer sugar-sweetened drinks. After adjusting for demographic factors, only the link with soft drinks remained significant.
Across all educational levels, people had the most trouble with the questions about health recommendations and daily value. As in other studies, low educational attainment was associated with poor understanding of nutrition labels. More than one-third of participants with less than a high school diploma could not correctly answer any of the questions. Less than 9% could answer all 4 correctly. However, only 54% of participants with a 4-year college degree could answer all the questions correctly.
One obvious way to improve things, the researchers suggest, is to make the nutrition label easier to use. They note that the FDA tried to do this in 2016, in addition to reflecting current nutrition science and public health research. For instance, certain label elements, like calories and serving size, are now larger and in a bold font. Serving sizes have been updated to more accurately reflect the amount of food and drink people usually consume. To help consumers better understand serving size, 2 columns are used for foods that can be eaten in 1 or multiple sittings, such as a bag of potato chips, so people will better grasp how many calories they consume in 1 sitting.
Still, understanding nutrition labels is not the same as using the nutrition information for selecting food, the researchers point out. Participants who answered all 4 questions correctly might not necessarily use the labels when buying food.