PERFORMANCE-CHARACTERISTICS OF 7 NUTRITION LABEL FORMATS

The authors evaluate seven nutrition label formats to determine consum er comprehension and acceptance of displayed information. They test co mprehension on five tasks: comparing two products, judging healthfulne ss, verifying claims, estimating servings needed to meet the daily req uirement for a nutrient, and balancing nutrients in a daily diet. Perf ormance scores were higher on some tasks-particularly dietary manageme nt ones-for formats that displayed nutrient amounts in percentages tha n for those that displayed nutrient amounts in metric units, even when interpretational aids were included on the metric formats. The two mo st preferred formats were metric formats with an interpretational aid. The findings have an important impact on decisions about the final nu trition label format required by the Food and Drug Administration.