ArticleNutrients2016
Do Health Claims and Front-of-Pack Labels Lead to a Positivity Bias in Unhealthy Foods?
Article in Nutrients, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of color-coded and warning nutrition labelling schemes: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy of front-of-package nutrient labels designed for mandatory implementation in the USA: an online randomised controlled trial.The Lancet. Public health · 2026Trial
- Effects of front-of-package nutrition labelling systems on objective understanding and purchase intention in El Salvador: results from a multi-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial.European journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- A Randomized Controlled Study to Test Front-of-Pack (FOP) Nutrition Labels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Trial
- A randomized trial to evaluate the impact of Singapore's forthcoming Nutri-grade front-of-pack beverage label on food and beverage purchases.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Trial
- The efficacy of 'high in' warning labels, health star and traffic light front-of-package labelling: an online randomised control trial.Public health nutrition · 2021Trial
- Randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of within versus across-category front-of-package lower-calorie labelling on food demand.BMC public health · 2020Trial
- Beyond Nutrient Profiling: Strengths, Limitations, and Emerging Challenges for Nutri-Score and Related Front-of-Pack Labeling Systems.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Who Pays for Low-GI Yogurt in China? Moderating Roles of Health Orientation and Consumer Knowledge.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Which front-of-pack nutritional label (FOPNL) is most effective in promoting healthier dietary choices? An experimental study in Indonesia.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Indonesian Adolescents' Perceptions of Front-of-Package Labels on Packaged Food and Drinks.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- Trends (2014-2018) in the healthiness of packaged food purchases of Australian consumers before and after the introduction of voluntary Health Star Rating nutrition labels.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Global overview of government-endorsed nutrition labeling policies of packaged foods: a document review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Nutritional quality of prepackaged foods carrying health or nutritional claims in KSA.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2023Article
- Effect of a new graphically modified Nutri-Score on the objective understanding of foods' nutrient profile and ultraprocessing: a randomised controlled trial.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2023Article
- "It's All Just Marketing", a Qualitative Analysis of Consumer Perceptions and Understandings of Nutrition Content and Health Claims in New Zealand.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Influence of nutrition claims on different models of front-of-package nutritional labeling in supposedly healthy foods: Impact on the understanding of nutritional information, healthfulness perception, and purchase intention of Brazilian consumers.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- The impact of Israel's Front-of-Package labeling reform on consumers' behavior and intentions to change dietary habits.Israel journal of health policy research · 2021Article
- The Differential Effects of Physical Activity Calorie Equivalent Labeling on Consumer Preferences for Healthy and Unhealthy Food Products: Evidence from a Choice Experiment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Health claims and front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) may lead consumers to hold more positive attitudes and show a greater willingness to buy food products, regardless of their actual healthiness. A potential negative consequence of this positivity bias is the increased consumption of unhealthy foods. This study investigated whether a positivity bias would occur in unhealthy variations of four products (cookies, corn flakes, pizzas and yoghurts) that featured different health claim conditions (no claim, nutrient claim, general level health claim, and higher level health claim) and FoPL conditions (no FoPL, the Daily Intake Guide (DIG), Multiple Traffic Lights (MTL), and the Health Star Rating (HSR)). Positivity bias was assessed via measures of perceived healthiness, global evaluations (incorporating taste, quality, convenience, etc.) and willingness to buy. On the whole, health claims did not produce a positivity bias, while FoPLs did, with the DIG being the most likely to elicit this bias. The HSR most frequently led to lower ratings of unhealthy foods than the DIG and MTL, suggesting that this FoPL has the lowest risk of creating an inaccurate positivity bias in unhealthy foods.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.