Nutrition Labeling Issues and Directions for the 1990s (1990) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4. Contextual Factors Affecting Food Labeling Reform
4. Contextual Factors Affecting Food Labeling Reform
Pages 74-128
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 74... ...
The factors that are considered in this chapter include current dietary patterns, food marketing in the United States, consumer understanding of nutrition and use of food labels, and analytical considerations that affect food labeling information. CURRENT DIETARY PATTERNS OF AMERICANS Since me turn of the century, Americans have made extensive changes in their eating habits.
|
From page 75... ...
With these caveats in mind, and recognizing that food supply data do not provide information on the actual foods that are eaten, they are still useful for reflecting changes in the overall patterns of the foods and nutrients available over time. At He second and third levels, data are collected by using householdbased surveys (i.e., use of food in households and individual food intakes)
|
From page 76... ...
All of the information, whether derived from food supply data or dietary surveys, is dependent on the quality of estimates and assumptions that permit the calculation of nutrient intakes. Dietary intake surveys of individuals often use a technique called the 24-hour dietary recall, relying on the respondent to accurately recall and describe the foods consumed during the pawing day or in the past 24 hours.
|
From page 77... ...
In 1985, the major sources of food energy in the food supply were fats and oils (20 percent) ; grains (19.9 percent)
|
From page 78... ...
Within the fats and oils group, the proportion of saturated fatty acids obtained from animal sources has declined, while the amount obtained from vegetable sources has increased, due to the use of salad and cooking oils, which has increased from 2 to 25 pounds per capita since 1909 (NRC, 1989~. In 1985, meat, poultry, and fish, fats and oils, and dairy products contributed almost all of the saturated fatty acids to the food supply.
|
From page 79... ...
Women aged 20 to 49 and children aged 1 to 5 consumed 37 percent and 35 percent of total calories from fat, respectively. Only about 10 percent of women surveyed had fat intakes below 30 percent of total calories.
|
From page 80... ...
Four-day estimated mean intakes of dietary fiber from the 1985-1986 CSFII were 11 g/day for women aged 20 to 49 and 10 g/day for children aged 1 to 5. Only 5 percent of the women surveyed had dietary fiber intakes of 20 g or more per day, as currently recommended by the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
|
From page 81... ...
Protein contributed an average of 17 percent of total calories in the diets of males and females. 1h 1985, meat, poultry, and fish supplied 43.4 percent, daily products supplied 20.6 percent, and grain products supplied 19 percent from the food supply (LSRO, FASEB, 1989~.
|
From page 82... ...
Thiamin Key sources of thiamin in the food supply include grain products (42.3 percent) ; meat, poultry, and fish (25.7 percent)
|
From page 83... ...
Niacin The daily per capita amount of preformed niacin available in the food supply was 26 mg in 1985, which has increased since the 1940s, when enrichment of flour with niacin was instituted. Major sources of niacin in the food supply include meat, poultry, and fish (46 percent)
|
From page 84... ...
Due to Me low intakes by a substantial numba of individuals, vitamin B6 is considered a potential public health issue (LSRO, FASEB, 1989~. Vitamin C The daily per capita amount of vitamin C in the food supply has fluctuated since the turn of the century, but it has not changed consistency.
|
From page 85... ...
Four-day data from the 1985-1986 CSFII indicate that the mean intakes by women aged 20 to 49 continue to be below the 1980 RDA, causing concern about osteoporosis. For children aged 1 to 5, the mean intake of calcium was 804 mg/day; the median intake was 769 mg/day, indicating that over half of the group had intakes below the 1980 RDA (LSRO, FASEB, 1989~.
|
From page 86... ...
zinc The per capita amount of zinc in the food supply has remained essentially unchanged at about 12 mg/day since 1909, despite fluctuations over the years (NRC, 1989~. In 1985, primary sources included meats, poultry, and fish (48.7 percent)
|
From page 87... ...
The principal nutrition-related health problems experienced by Americans are related to overconsumption of food energy, fat, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and sodium. Despite the abundant food supply, some subgroups in the population may not have sufficient food for a variety of reasons.
|
From page 88... ...
food supply. Considering the aggregate effects of these and other unforeseen changes, it is anticipated that Americans' diets will continue to experience dynamic changes.
|
From page 89... ...
This section explores the relevant structural issues pertaining to major sectors of the food processing and distribution systems, including the growing integration of the food system into the world community of trade and issues that have an impact on marketing, promotion, and labeling decisions. World Trade No consideration of food labeling issues should ignore the growing integralion of the U.S.
|
From page 90... ...
However, a few general observations that bear on label revisions can be made. First, the growing internationalization of the food industry is evident in Me ownership of food processing companies.
|
From page 91... ...
A more complete discussion of the costs of food labeling reform appears in Chapter 7. General Marketing Considerations The limited scope of this section permits only a cursory examination of food marketing and labeling considerations.
|
From page 92... ...
Improved label information will not only help consumers make more appropriate immediate decisions, but it also improves the direction and quality of future product development decisions. The views within the industry as to how much importance to place on health and nutrition issues differ, depending on the nature of the product.
|
From page 93... ...
Factors that influence consumers' food choices are many and varied, including internal as well as external factors (Sims, 1981~. External influences include social, cultural, and economic factors.
|
From page 94... ...
reported Hat for older adults, the reading of food labels was significantly related to their level of nutrition knowledge. It had long been thought that if nutrition knowledge were increased, improvements in food choices and eating habits would follow.
|
From page 95... ...
reported that roughly two-thirds of surveyed households claimed to have made at least one change in food consumption, almost always to avoid a negative nutrient. Of the 10 most frequently mentioned reasons for changes in eating habits, nine were related to reducing the intake of negative food components.
|
From page 96... ...
The issue then becomes how to best present the nutrition information on food labels to measure up against these criteria Impact of Nutrition Information on Food Purchase Decisions Format of Information Given the level of interest in nutrition expressed by consumers but the high level of confusion over the interpretation of some of the currently available information, it is useful to examine whether point-of-purchase information makes a difference in food choices when presented in a format relevant to current dietary recommendations. Although the number of research reports is limited, several studies have demonstrated that consumers can be motivated to buy foods more consistent with current dietary recommendations by providing point-ofpurchase information (Glascoff et al., 1986; Hixson et al., 1988; Light et al., 1989; Mullis et al., 1987~.
|
From page 97... ...
Thus, an educational program may deliver a nutrition message to individuals or groups, but whether it produces the desired effect depends on how the recipient of that information processes or internalizes it to make decisions or guide behavior. A change in food choices and purchases may be the ultimate effect of information programs such as food labeling, but there must be prior cognitive changes His and Staelin, 1982~.
|
From page 98... ...
The issue of coverage of food products with nutrition labeling also relates to the notion of exposure. If only about half of packaged foods and far fewer fresh products carry nutrition information in the grocery store, and few restaurants or other sites offer nutrition information, nutrition labeling on only a limited number of products cannot be expected to have much of an impact on food choices.
|
From page 99... ...
99 .8 d.o l~ ~ ~W on ·: ~ 'e c)
|
From page 100... ...
The survey recently conducted for NFPA, Food Labeling and Nutrition: What Arnen cans Wan`, revealed that, Most shoppers read food labels. About eight in ten consumers report that they usually read product labels for general information, nutrition information or He list of ingredients the first time they purchase a specific product.
|
From page 101... ...
in which consumers felt more satisfied and less confused with their purchase decisions when more information was presented. Consumer preference for more detailed information on food Labels was sum stant~ated by the findings from the recent NFPA survey which asked consumers to rank six pairs of label formats according to their usefulness in making food purchase decisions (ORC, 1990~.
|
From page 102... ...
A1though consumer interest in nutrition information appears to be high at present, a less positive conclusion can be drawn about the actual level of consumer comprehension of nutrition information. Some surveys report that consumers say they understand food labels, but other studies suggest that consumers often do not actually comprehend the data on current nutrition labels and, therefore, do
|
From page 103... ...
In the 1979 Food ~ libeling Background Papers, the following statement on consumer acceptability of food label information appears: the Consumer Food Labeling Survey, 23 percent of the 64 percent of those consumers who use the nutrition label responded that at least some aspects of He label are confusing. Terminology was stated to be confusing by 79 percent of the people, the use of the metric system by 27 percent, "big words" by 16 percent, and U.S.
|
From page 104... ...
Consumers do not understand many of the terms now used on food labels, for example, scientific terms for nutrients or food components or the metric units used to indicate nutrient compositions (Achterberg, 19903. In addition, the concept of serving size has no consistent meaning, either for food manufacturers or consumers.
|
From page 105... ...
Even if the information per se is free (as it is for nutrition information on food labels) , consumer efforts to process the information is still a cost to them.
|
From page 106... ...
Food labels must be designed that will be acted upon by both short- and long-term memory. Because short-term memory has very limited storage capacity, the aim must be to keep the label information as simple and relevant as possible.
|
From page 107... ...
Asam and Bucklin (1973) varied brand, price, nutrition information, and store location to determine the effect of nutrition labeling on consumer purchase
|
From page 108... ...
found Mat 40 percent of the older adults in Weir survey reported that they never read food labels to compare products or to examine ingredients. Summary of Consumer Understanding The field of nutrition is clearly more complex than it was 15 years ago, when the use of nutrition labels became effective; likewise, the amount of nutrition information to which consumers are exposed has expanded exponentially.
|
From page 109... ...
For the purpose of nutrition labeling, the precision of analytical methods must be considered in light of the variability of food composition. For example, the natural nutrient composition of some plant-derived foods varies so greatly among samples that determination is difficult or impossible even when the least amount of precision is required.
|
From page 110... ...
This discussion covers issues concerning the analytical basis of food labeling data and verification of data provided on labels, the adequacy of food composition data bases, and me status of analytical methods for the generation of food composition data. Current Analytical Basis of Food Labeling Information The authority to regulate nutrition labeling is divided between USDA (meat and poultry)
|
From page 111... ...
Sunday of FDA Requirements In 21 CF-R §101.9, FDA specifies the procedures for nutrition labeling of foods, whether the information is provided voluntarily or is required when the product is formulated with the addition of any nutrient or any nutrition clailTI is made. Labels provide information on the composition of the products in the form in which they are packaged There may be a declaration of nutrient content of the product as consumed after typical (specified)
|
From page 112... ...
Requirements for AOAC or Other Off cial Methods USDA and ADA rely primarily on official methods of AOAC in the implementation and regulation of nutrition labeling. Furthermore, the analytical basis of all areas of food and drug regulation is the validation process developed by AOAC (Huts, 1985~.
|
From page 113... ...
Although the scientific rationale is justified, from a regulatory viewpoint this policy effectively removes AOAC official method status from most analytical methods used in the regulation of compliance in nutrition labeling. This problem is particularly acute in specialized aspects of mandatory nutrition labeling, such as specified for infant formula (21 CPR §107.70~.
|
From page 114... ...
Methods of quality control for nutrient analysis should be strictly specified, but are lacking for nearly all current methods, including the official methods of AOAC and similar organizations. Considerable improvement is needed in the validation and standardization of methods of food analysis for use in nutrition labeling and in the generation of food composition data (Stewart, 1985~.
|
From page 115... ...
Carbohydrates For the purpose of nutrition labeling, the measurement of total carbohydrates in foods is ordinarily performed indirectly. Total nutritionally available carbohydrates are calculated as total sample weight minus analytical values for protein, fat, moisture, ash, and total dietary fiber.
|
From page 116... ...
Fats and Cholesterol The Surgeon General's report (DHHS, 1988) recommended that total fat, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and cholesterol contents be listed in nutrition labeling.
|
From page 117... ...
In addition, most foods exhibit relatively little variation with respect to their protein content. Thus, nutrition labeling of the protein component of foods can be accomplished with less difficulty than is encountered for other food components.
|
From page 118... ...
The services of private analytical laboratories are commonly used by all segments of the food industry, particularly with respect to analyses involving nutrition labeling which are frequently not performed in-house on a routine basis, as is the case for quality control analyses used to monitor the formulation and processing of food products. Private analytical laboratories appear to be able to expand to the analytical demands of the marketplace (as influenced, in this case, by nutrition labeling requirements)
|
From page 119... ...
Nutrition Labeling of Non packaged Foods: Application of Food Composition Data Bases The application of current labeling procedures based principally on direct analytical data appears to be impractical for fresh foods, including meat, poultry, seafood, and produce and foods sold in restaurants. In view of the need for expansion of public access to food composition information; however, the use of information from appropriate data bases may be a useful alternative.
|
From page 120... ...
It has been suggested that information from appropriate data bases (e.g., USDA) could be used as the basis for nutrition labeling of certain foods that cannot be readily analyzed during distribution (e.g., fresh meat, poultry, seafood, fmits, and vegetables)
|
From page 121... ...
Committee Recommendations All nutrition labeling is predicated on acceptable accuracy and precision of the information provided, whether obtained by direct analysis or indirectly from a food composition data base. Thus, the validity of nutrition labeling ultimately depends on the adequacy of analytical methods used in food analysis and their appropriate application.
|
From page 122... ...
1990. Information presented at the Workshop on Consumer Understanding and Use of Food Labels, Committee on the Nutrition Components of Food Labeling, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, Washington D.C.
|
From page 123... ...
1985. Nutnent density and food labeling.
|
From page 124... ...
Stokes.1979. Food and Drug Administration, 1978 Consumer Food Labeling Survey.
|
From page 125... ...
1988. Food labels test your food label knowledge.
|
From page 126... ...
1990. Food Labeling and Nutrition: What Americans Want.
|
From page 127... ...
1989. Consumer response to caloric base variations on the graphical nutrient density food label.
|
From page 128... ...
1971. Nutrition labeling: A consumer experiment to determine the effects of nutrition labeling on food purchases.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.