Whole grain labels baffle US consumers, finds study

11 Aug 2020 --- Confusing and potentially misleading whole grain labels on cereals, bread and crackers have been flagged by a new study led by US researchers at Tufts University and New York University. The scientists tested whether consumers are able to pick out the healthier, whole grain option based on food package labels, with the investigators concluding that the findings could help lead to enhancements in labeling.

“For food manufacturers, having this information about consumer misunderstanding may encourage reporting of the percentage of grain content that is whole grain. Some have suggested that policymakers should consider adopting a requirement for that type grain content label, on products that make explicit or implied whole grain content claims,” Parke Wilde, lead author and Professor at Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, tells NutritionInsight. 

Over 1,000 US adults responded to a survey with photos of both hypothetical and real products. The photos displayed various whole grain labels on the front of the package, along with the nutrition facts label and ingredients list for each product. Participants were asked to identify the healthier option for the hypothetical products or assess the whole grain content for the real products.

For real products that were not mostly composed of whole grains, 43 to 51 percent of respondents overstated the whole grain content. Specifically, 41 percent overstated for multigrain crackers, 43 percent for honey wheat bread, and 51 percent for 12-grain bread. Consumers more accurately stated the whole grain content for an oat cereal product that really was mostly composed of whole grain. 

For the hypothetical products, 29 to 47 percent of respondents answered incorrectly. Specifically, 31 percent answered incorrectly for cereal, 29 to 37 percent for crackers, 47 percent for bread).

“The side-by-side comparisons allowed us to vary the ingredient lists, but this only is possible with hypothetical products. The whole grain content questions allowed us to use real products, but we could not modify the ingredients to investigate particular trade-offs in whole grain content. Our biggest obstacle was recognizing that our two methods each had a key strength and a key limitation, so we decided to use both methods,” explains Wilde. 

The study also found that consumers who were younger, had less education, were Black or African American, or reported having difficulty understanding food labels were more likely to answer incorrectly in the test involving hypothetical products.

The researchers say they have a “strong legal argument” that whole grain labels are misleading.Weighing up against a legal standard
The study aimed to assess whether consumer misunderstanding of the labels meets a legal standard for enhanced US labeling requirements for whole grain products. The legal standard relates to deceptive advertising, and evidence that the labels are actually misleading consumers can bolster support for regulations.

“With the results of this study, we have a strong legal argument that whole grain labels are misleading. I would say when it comes to deceptive labels, ‘whole grain’ claims are among the worst. Even people with advanced degrees cannot figure out how much whole grain is in these products,” highlights co-author Jennifer Pomeranz, Assistant Professor of Public Health Policy and Management at NYU School of Global Public Health.

Wilde explains that manufacturers may use various methods to persuade consumers that a product has whole grains even if it doesn’t. This includes calling a product “multigrain” or coloring it brown. “For consumers, it would be helpful if manufacturers reported what percentage of grain in a particular product is whole grain,” he adds. 

He continues that in comparison to other ingredients that appear as a row on the Nutrition Facts Panel – like sodium – whole grain is much more difficult for consumers to understand. “Even the most closely relevant row of the Nutrition Facts Panel (fiber) does not really track the whole grain content very precisely. Therefore even knowledgeable consumers may have difficulty determining the whole grain content,” Wilde concludes. 

These findings are particularly important in light of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that half of all grains consumed should be whole grains. Adequate intake of whole grains has been linked with reduced risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.

By Katherine Durrell