Efeito dos modelos de alerta nutricional na percepção da saudabilidade pelo consumidor brasileiro

Abstract

In many countries, the changing in eating habits have led to the increased consumption of processed foods, which are readily available, affordable and usually high in fat, sugar, and salt. The nutrition labeling is a fundamental mean of communication to inform consumer and, especially the front-of-pack (FOP) that attracts consumers' attention more easily and provides guidance on nutritional information for a product. This work aimed to investigate the effect of different front-of-pack models (guideline daily amount (GDA), black octagon, black triangle, red circle, black magnifier and red magnifier) presented in different product categories on the nutritional quality perception by Brazilian consumers. The study was conducted with 1616 participants (aged above of 18 years old, from both gender and all social status) recruited online in the North, Northeast, West center, South, and Southeast of Brazil, from January 21-30, 2019. There were evaluated eight product categories that are frequently consumed by Brazilian population were evaluated (chocolate flavored milk, breakfast cereal, cereal bar, orange nectar, savory snack, yogurt, frozen lasagna and sponge cake). In the first step of the study, for each product category, three versions of products with different nutritional characteristics were presented. Each participant was randomly assigned to evaluate one of the labeling model. The consumers were instructed to imagine they were at a supermarket doing their shopping and that they would see a series of food that could be on the shelf. They were asked to indicate the healthiest product. In the next step, half of participants were asked to evaluate the categories orange nectar, frozen lasagna and sponge cake, in a healthy version and the other half on the unhealthy version, using 7-pont scales, where 1: not healthy at all 7: very healthy. Finally, they answered the questions about nutrient that were present in excess in the three mentioned categories. Socioeconomic information of participants was also collected in this research. The data was analyzed using (ANOVA), Tukey test, logistic regression (glm) using the R software. The results of this work suggest advantages for the warning models on the GDA, with the red circle and the black octagon having advantages over the others. ; The average of correct answers when consumers were asked to indicate the healthiest product was higher with the red circle, and the black octagon, black triangle and red circle were the models that participants rated more accurately the perception of healthfulness. Results suggest that the implementation of the nutrition labeling with the warning models together with campaigns aimed at reducing risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, smoking, among others, have a positive impact on the health of the Brazilian population