ABSTRACT

Given the obesity epidemic and regulatory responses to this public health crisis in the United States and the European Union, it is especially important that we understand how consumers evaluate health and nutrition information presented on food labels and in food advertisements. A single study has explored consumer scepticism of food labelling versus that of food advertising. We replicate the results of this initial work, ask additional questions that extend our understanding of consumer scepticism, and replicate our own findings. Respondents are consistently uncertain about food science, distrustful of regulatory efficacy, suspicious of commercial speech, and sceptical of health claims and the Nutrition Facts Panel. Taken together, these stable results suggest possible manufacturer and regulatory responses and future research directions.

摘要

鉴于美国和欧盟针对这一公共卫生危机的肥胖流行和监管反应，了解消费者如何评估食品标签和食品广告中提供的健康和营养信息尤为重要。一项研究探讨了消费者对食品标签与食品广告的怀疑态度。我们复制了这项初步工作的结果，提出了其他问题来扩展我们对消费者怀疑主义的理解，并复制我们自己的发现。受访者始终不确定食品科学、不信任监管效力、怀疑商业言论，并对健康声明和营养成分小组持怀疑态度。总之，这些稳定的结果表明可能的制造商和监管机构的反应以及未来的研究方向。