Consumers read, benefit from information on food packaging

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- New research confirms what many have suspected for years: Having more information about food can help people make smarter food purchases.

In fact, about 95 percent of people look for a healthy food option at least some of the time when shopping, according to a survey published Thursday by the International Food Information Council. Just 28 percent of consumers say, however, that they have access to information on food products.

"We know consumers are making efforts to eat healthier," Joseph Clayton, CEO of the IFIC Foundation, said in a news release. "But our research indicates that their ability to locate the information they find most helpful can be a barrier to making healthier choices. Even subtle changes to food labels could have a positive impact on public health."

According to the survey, 69 percent of people look at nutritional facts to get food information and 67 percent get information from the ingredient list.

And those icons on the front of food packaging boasting a product's health benefits seem to also make big impact on purchase decisions, researchers report. Close to half of people check front-of-package icons, such as the Heart Check mark from the American Heart Association.

Consumers are particularly aware of package labeling when buying a food product for the first time.

Universal symbols of health awareness like these help customers make better choices and can lead to healthier eating, according to the researchers.

"Shoppers say they are overwhelmed with choices and conflicting nutrition information," said Cheryl Anderson, professor and interim chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "Meaningful health labeling like the Heart-Check mark may help shoppers choose foods with higher diet quality that support good health."