Consumer Perception of Front‐Of‐Pack Nutrition Labeling on a Real Product High in Saturated Fat and Sodium

ABSTRACT The consumption of sugars, saturated fat, and sodium is high throughout the world and one of the main causes is the difficulty in identifying the presence of these components in commercialized foods. Different front‐of‐package (FOP) labeling models have been proposed globally to solve this problem; however, due to a legislation gap, some products, even those high in sodium and saturated fat, are not required to use front‐of‐pack labeling, which can create a false impression of healthiness for the consumer, such as instant noodles. In this context, the objective was to investigate how packaging with FOP nutrition labels affects perceptions, emotions, purchase intention, and consumer choice of real commercial instant noodles with high saturated fats and sodium levels. The online questionnaire was administered to 521 instant noodle consumers. We found that the presence of traffic lights and magnifying glass FOP labels did not affect the perception of healthiness but significantly reduced the intention to purchase the product. Packaging with FOP labels allowed consumers to identify less healthy products and make healthier choices more easily. The magnifying glass FOP was the most efficient for this purpose. These results indicate how FOP could enable consumers to make healthier choices. It is up to the industry to work on reformulating products that meet consumer needs and preferences and a revision of FOP criteria by Legislation.