Potential Prevalence of Front-of-Package Labels on Packaged Foods in a Supermarket Chain in the Northeast United States Under Two Proposed Labeling Systems

Abstract

Background

The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed a mandatory “Nutrition Info” label be placed on the front of packaged foods, showing whether products have low, medium, or high amounts of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar. The agency also has considered a “High-In” labeling system, which would require labels on products with high levels of these nutrients.

Objective

The aim of this study was to analyze the proportion of purchased packaged foods that would display specific front-of-package labels under the Nutrition Info and High-In front-of-package labeling systems overall and across 15 food groups.

Design

This was a cross-sectional study of 1 year of sales data.

Setting

This study used sales and nutrition data from 2022 from a supermarket chain with 184 stores in the Northeast United States.

Main outcome measures

The sales-weighted percentage of products that would display different Nutrition Info labels (“non-mixed”: all nutrients have the same level; “slightly mixed”: mix of low/medium or medium/high; “severely mixed”: a mix of low/high) and High-In labels (eg, percentage with ≥1 High-In label) was determined overall and by food group.

Statistical analyses performed

Descriptive statistics and χ² tests were calculated.

Results

Under Nutrition Info labeling, 12% of products would display non-mixed labels, and 40% would display severely mixed labels. In 7 food groups (eg, pizza, candy), >50% of products would display severely mixed labels. Under High-In labeling, 49% of products would display ≥1 High-In label.

Conclusions

The Nutrition Info front-of-package label would place severely mixed labels on a large proportion of products in unhealthy food groups, which may confuse consumers. High-In front-of-package labeling would place labels on a large proportion of these products without mixed messaging.