Evaluating USA’s New Nutrition and Supplement Facts Label: Evidence from a Non-hypothetical Choice Experiment

In May 2016, the FDA published new rules for Nutrition and Supplement Facts label formats and contents, which take effect in 2019. The revised labelling is designed to help consumers make better-informed product choices in support of a healthier diet. Changes in nutrition label requirements include the prominent display of "calories per serving" and "serving size" as well as updated nutritional requirements and information reflecting contemporary scientific knowledge about diet-disease relationships. No other known study however has directly examined whether these new upcoming changes will help consumers make healthier choices. To fill this void, we conducted a non-hypothetical choice experiment on "light" and "original" strawberry yogurt products at a major public University in the USA. Using a generalized mixed logit model with a scale parameter to account for taste heterogeneity among participants, we find that the new label changes food choice behavior. Specifically, we find that the new label reduces consumer's preferences for both original and low-fat yogurts. This finding is evident among the more health-conscious subsample. It is possible that the new label generates an "alarm" effect given the revised features on calories, added sugar and serving size, especially among those who are more nutrition and health conscious and those who use labels for nutrient information.