🏷️ While food labeling generates much debate, to a large extent in conjunction with the debate on food categories (NOVA, Chilean front label, nutrient content approaches...), one may wonder whether labels are read and whether they are informative, especially amongst younger populations.
A recent study by researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston brings us much hope: albeit its limitations, all the more for the teenage age group at high risk for poor food choices:"𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮, 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙡 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥".
While making us optimistic, clearly more effort is required, both in terms of 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝘀 (and improvement of labels themselves), and also 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀.
No doubt areas where the GoCoCo App 📱 can help jump through the hoops:
- encompassing both a holistic & reductionist rating system
- simple on-the-spot scanning system that will rate the product for you, so you don't need to spend 10 minutes trying to figure out what the label means (and what food claims are relevant)
- providing alternative options for poorly rated products, so you can quickly swap if relevant
Let's help our teenagers (and adults !) choose wisely 😀
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