So many ingredients in modern foodstuffs raise eyebrows, along with some questions, among consumers. Many of the most ubiquitous items in grocery stores and markets have undergone processes that can be seen as questionable, especially in today’s health-conscious landscape. While it’s necessary for the big food companies to be clear in their food labels for their own sake, what exactly counts as an effective claim on a container? Is it worth getting producers to say that something has “reduced sodium” if the consumer doesn’t really know what that means?
A study done on shoppers in Canada, recently featured in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the reactions different groups of test subjects had to fake soups they were told were either low in sodium or simply “taste[d] great.” Some of the subjects suffered from hypertension. The result found that test subjects overestimated the benefits of low sodium items.
The abstract of the report concludes by noting the importance of greater specification and knowledge when it comes to the customer purchasing food.
“We caution that consumers do not seem to differentiate between different types of claims, but the nutritional profiles of foods that carry different sodium claims can potentially differ greatly in the current labeling environment,” the authors assert. “Additional educational efforts are needed to ensure that consumers do not attribute inappropriate health benefits to foods with low-sodium claims.”
Part of this can be attributed to ill-informed shoppers, but it can also be pinned on the labels themselves. As producers argue that such labels scare customers away, it’s important for the industry to consider ways of providing the best information in a way that others find easier to stomach. Using a color label printer like the Primera LX900 can give a marketing team the tools to help shoppers without lowering sales.
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