The authors analyze the impact of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act on the use of voluntary claims in 19 product categories between 1992 and 1999. The percentage of products that make nutrient-content claims decreased somewhat, and the major effect was a redistribution of claim activity among product categories. Products that make health and healthy claims increased, but these claims remained relatively rare.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CaswellJulie A., and MojduszkaEliza M. (1996), “Using Informational Labeling to Influence the Market for Quality in Food Products,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78(December), 1248–53.
2.
CaswellJulie A., and PadbergDaniel I. (1992), “Toward a More Comprehensive Theory of Food Labels,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 74(May), 460–68.
3.
Food Institute Report (2001), “Low Fat Items Make a Strong Comeback Among Products with Nutritional Claims,” (May 7), 9.
4.
Food Institute Report (2002), “Nutritional Claims on the Rise in 2001,” (February 25), 4.
5.
FordGary T., HastakManoj, MitraAnusree, and RingoldDebra Jones (1996), “Can Consumers Interpret Nutrition Information in the Presence of a Health Claim? A Laboratory Investigation,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 15(Spring), 16–27.
6.
GarretsonJudith A., and BurtonScot (2000), “Effects of Nutrition Facts Panel Values, Nutrition Claims, and Health Claims on Consumer Attitudes, Perceptions of Disease-Related Risks, and Trust,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 19(Fall), 213–21.
7.
GolanElise, KuchlerFred, and MitchellLorraine (2001), “The Economics of Food Labeling,” Agricultural Economic Report No. 793, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
8.
IppolitoPauline M., and MathiosAlan D. (1990), “Information, Advertising, and Health Choices: A Study of the Cereal Market,”RAND Journal of Economics, 21(3), 459–80.
9.
IppolitoPauline M., and MathiosAlan D. (1991), “Health Claims in Food Marketing: Evidence on Knowledge and Behavior in the Cereal Market,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 10(Spring), 15–32.
10.
IppolitoPauline M., and MathiosAlan D. (1993), “New Food Labeling Regulations and the Flow of Nutrition Information to Consumers,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 12(Fall), 188–205.
11.
IppolitoPauline M., and PappalardoJanis K. (2002), “Advertising Nutrition and Health: Evidence from Food Advertising, 1977–1997,” staff report, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission.
12.
KellerScott B., LandryMike, OlsonJeanne, VelliquetteAnne M., BurtonScot, and Craig AndrewsJ. (1997), “The Effects of Nutrition Package Claims, Nutrition Facts Panels, and Motivation to Process Nutrition Information on Consumer Product Evaluations,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 16(Fall), 256–69.
13.
LiuFang (2001), “Manufacturers’ Marketing of Food Products: Changes in Nutritional Quality and Use of Claims,” master's thesis, Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
14.
MitraAnu, HastakManoj, FordGary T., and RingoldDebra Jones (1999), “Can the Educationally Disadvantaged Interpret the FDA-Mandated Nutrition Facts Panel in the Presence of an Implied Health Claim?”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 18(Spring), 106–117.
15.
MojduszkaEliza M., and CaswellJulie A. (1999), “A Test of Nutritional Quality Signaling in Food Markets Prior to Implementation of Mandatory Labeling,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 82(May), 298–309.
16.
NingYumei (1997), “Manufacturers’ Responses to the New Food Labeling Regulations,” master's thesis, Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
17.
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (1990), Public Law No. 101-535, 104 Stat. 2353.
18.
PappalardoJanis K. (1996), “Evaluating the NLEA: Where's the Beef?”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 15(Spring), 153–56.
19.
RoeBrian, LevyAlan S., and DerbyBrenda M. (1999), “The Impact of Health Claims on Consumer Search and Product Evaluation Outcomes: Results from FDA Experimental Data,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 18(Spring), 89–105.