食品伙伴網(wǎng)報道，據(jù)美國食品導(dǎo)航網(wǎng)8月3日的消息稱，美國飲食協(xié)會雜志上發(fā)表的一個最新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，注意營養(yǎng)標簽的消費者與不注意營養(yǎng)標簽的消費者相比，其飲食似乎更加健康。同時，研究者也提出建議：改變營養(yǎng)標簽的使用方式。
美國飲食協(xié)會雜志（ Journal of the American Dietetic Association）的作者們要求提高營養(yǎng)標簽的使用率，以便確保營養(yǎng)標簽對飲食習(xí)慣形成影響。 本次對全美成年人具有代表性的抽樣調(diào)查的研究中只有61.6%的受訪者說，他們會常常檢查營養(yǎng)成分表。而根據(jù)2005-2006年全國健康和營養(yǎng)調(diào)查（NHANES）的數(shù)據(jù)，他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在決定是否購買某一食品時，51.6%的人會看成分表，47.2%的人會檢查份量，43.8%的人至少有時會考慮營養(yǎng)標簽中的健康聲稱。
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)：使用標簽的消費者和不使用標簽的消費者最大的營養(yǎng)差異在于總能量、總脂肪、飽和脂肪酸、膽固醇、糖等方面，而對包裝上的健康聲稱關(guān)注的消費者的總脂肪和飽和脂肪酸的量都較低。“雖然使用食品標簽是改善飲食的因素，但僅僅使用標簽將不會改變消費行為，并且最終導(dǎo)致健康狀況的改善不夠，”他們寫道。
然而，作者得出結(jié)論認為，使用需要提高利率，以便有更多的對公眾健康造成的影響。
本報道由食品伙伴網(wǎng)編譯整理，僅供食品行業(yè)相關(guān)人士參考，詳細內(nèi)容以國外原文報道為準。
原文報道：
Nutrition labels need changing or campaigning to improve use, say researchers
By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 03-Aug-2010
Consumers who pay attention to nutrition labels are more likely to eat a healthy diet than those who do not, according to a new study, prompting researchers to recommend a shift in the way they are used.
The authors, writing in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, claim that rates of use need to be improved in order to ensure nutrition labels have an effect on eating habits; only 61.6 percent of the study’s nationally representative sample of US adults said they regularly checked the Nutrition Facts panel. Using data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), they also found that 51.6 percent looked at the ingredient list, 47.2 percent checked serving size, and 43.8 percent considered health claims at least sometimes when deciding whether to buy a food product.
The greatest nutrient differences between label users and non-label users were for total energy, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugars; and users of on-pack health claims had lower reported values for total fat and saturated fat, the researchers found.
However, the study’s authors urged caution regarding to what extent use of nutritional information actually causes healthier eating.
“Despite food label use being associated with improved dietary factors, label use alone is not expected to be sufficient in modifying behavior ultimately leading to improved health outcomes,” they wrote.
Increasing use
Nevertheless, the authors concluded that rates of use need to be increased in order to have greater impact on public health.
“Low rates of label use also suggest that national campaigns or modification of the food label may be needed to reduce the proportion of the population not using this information,” they wrote.
“Possible changes to the current label that have been suggested include bolding calorie information, reporting the total nutrient intake for foods likely to be consumed in a single sitting, and using more intuitive labeling that requires less cognitive processing such as a red, yellow, and green ‘traffic light’ signs on the front of the label.”
Linguistic differences
The researchers also found that non-native English speakers were least likely to use nutritional information, although label use was seen to increase in line with foreign-born participants’ duration of residency.
“The food label alone is not expected to be sufficient in modifying behavior ultimately leading to improved health outcomes, but may be used by individuals and nutrition professionals as a valuable and motivating tool in our efforts to combat obesity and diet-related chronic disease,” they concluded.
Point of purchase pilot study
One possible way to increase consumer use of this information is to flag certain foods as healthier at the point of purchase. In a pilot study, also published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers monitored the food purchasing behavior of students during the middle of the fall 2008 semester at an urban university, and then tagged a range of healthier options with the Eat Smart program’s ‘Fuel Your Life’ logo. During the five-week period following the addition of these labels, the researchers found a 3.6 percent increase in sales of tagged items, although they underlined that this was not a statistically significant change.
