Assessing the Impact of Retailer Disclosure on the Effectiveness of U.S. Meat and Poultry Recalls.

ABSTRACT: In August 2008, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a new policy that required publication of a list of retail consignees for the meat and poultry products part of class I recalls, those with the greatest potential impact on public health. In this study, two recall effectiveness measures (recovery rate and completion time) and a difference-in-difference method were used to examine the effects of retailer disclosures. When controlling for factors previously determined to impact recall effectiveness, including product type, reasons for recall, the amount of food recalled, plant size, and the way the problem was discovered, no significant impact on recall effectiveness was discerned under the current disclosure policy. Recalls for bacterial contamination had higher recovery rates. Larger recalls had lower recovery rates and longer completion times. Recalls issued by very small plants had lower recovery rates. Compared with other stakeholders, government agency discovery of the problem was associated with lower recovery rates. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers a similar retailer disclosure policy for foods regulated under the Food Safety Modernization Act, such lessons from the USDA experience should inform the policy debate.

Qualified Health Claim Language affects Purchase Intentions for Green Tea Products in the United States.

Qualified health claims (QHC) describe diet-disease relationships and summarize the quality and strength of evidence for a claim. Companies assert that QHCs increase sales and take legal action to ensure claims reflect their interests. Yet, there is no empirical evidence that QHCs influence consumers. Using green tea as a case study, this study investigated the effects of QHCs on purchase intentions among adults 55 years and older living in the US. An online survey using a between-subjects design examined QHCs about the relationship between green tea and the reduced risk of breast and/or prostate cancer or yukichi fruit juice and the reduced risk of gastrocoridalis, a fictitious relationship. QHCs written by a green tea company generated greater perceptions of evidence for the relationship, greater confidence in green tea and cancer, and increased purchase intentions for green tea than other QHCs. Factors that mitigated the claim's effects on purchase intentions are: Race/ethnicity; age; importance of health claims; supplement use; health; worry about health/becoming sick with cancer; worry that led to dietary change; green tea consumption; and familiarity with the green tea-cancer. Consumers who made health-related dietary change in the past year and consider health claims important indicated greater purchase intentions than others.

Shelf to Health: Does Product Innovation Change National Estimates of Dietary Impacts?

This paper presents a simulation process to augment nutrition surveillance in the United States which incorporates product innovation data. Traditional point-estimates of nutritional quality in a food category are compared to those based on distributions of nutrient compositions using product-level variability seen in the market. Nationally representative consumption patterns provide dietary intakes. Cookies are used as an example food category. Nutrient composition data from Global New Product Database (GNPD) for 5259 cookies launched 2005 to 2012 were matched to dietary intakes from 2005 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) over the 2 y cycles of NHANES for 8284 cookie consumers. Average dietary intakes from traditional NHANES and GNPD-based estimations produced similar mean values for energy, carbohydrates, sugars, total fat, and protein. Saturated fat, fiber and cholesterol contributions using new product compositions were significantly higher than traditional NHANES approaches, estimates of sodium were significantly lower. These differences become pronounced when comparing adult and child consumption patterns and over time. This process also simulated trans fat consumption estimates not traditionally available within NHANES. On average cookies contributed 0.3 g/d (range 0 to 4.1 g/d). Much variability in food composition is seen in the market which is shown to influence estimates of the national diet. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Numerous factors drive changes in the food supply, including health trends, firm strategic choices, and food policy. This evolution presents a challenge for dietary assessments and nutrition monitoring. The public health impact of variability in nutritional composition, subpopulation consumption patterns and market dynamics are particularly difficult to evaluate and are shown to influence estimates of the national diet.

Dietary Intake Contributions of Food and Beverages by Source and Food Security Status in US Adults.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the consumption patterns and diet quality of foods and beverages obtained from various sources by food security status. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of 2011-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4,789 adults (aged >19 years) with dietary intake and food security data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The contribution of foods and beverages to energy, nutrients, and diet quality by locations where food was obtained was compared across food security status. ANALYSIS: Descriptive analysis and logistic regression. RESULTS: Almost all US adults consumed food and beverages obtained from grocery stores, regardless of food security status (about 95%), which accounted for one half to two thirds of total macronutrient intakes. The diet quality of foods from grocery stores was better in highly food-secure adults. Convenience stores are used most by very low food-secure adults; those foods had the poorest diet quality profile. Dietary patterns of marginally food-secure adults more closely resembled sources and intakes of low and very low food-secure adults. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Food-insecure adults use food sources differently, resulting in diet quality differences of foods and beverages obtained. Place-based interventions in the food environment may have differential effects by food security status.

A Natural Experiment: Using Immersive Technologies to Study the Impact of "All-Natural" Labeling on Perceived Food Quality, Nutritional Content, and Liking.

The "all-natural" label is used extensively in the United States. At many point-of-purchase locations, employed servers provide food samples and call out specific label information to influence consumers' purchase decisions. Despite these ubiquitous practices, it is unclear what information is conveyed to consumers by the all-natural label or how it impacts judgments of perceived food quality, nutritional content, and acceptance. We used a novel approach incorporating immersive technology to simulate a virtual in-store sampling scenario where consumers were asked by a server to evaluate identical products with only one being labeled all-natural. Another condition evaluated the impact of the in-store server additionally emphasizing the all-natural status of one sample. Results indicated the all-natural label significantly improved consumer's perception of product quality and nutritional content, but not liking or willingness to pay, when compared to the regular sample. With the simple emphasis of the all-natural claim by the in-store server, these differences in quality and nutritional content became even more pronounced, and willingness to pay increased significantly by an average of 8%. These results indicate that in a virtual setting consistent with making food purchases, an all-natural front-of-pack label improves consumer perceptions of product quality and nutritional content. In addition, information conveyed to consumers by employed servers has a further, substantial impact on these variables suggesting that consumers are highly susceptible to social influence at the point of purchase.

Securing a Stop to the Summer Setback: Policy Considerations in the Future Expansion of the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children.

The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) has been proposed as a solution to address the problem of child food security during the summer. Initial SEBTC findings from a demonstration project show promise and the federal government has approved substantial funding for its continuation. This report reviews empirical assessments of SEBTC and Electronic Benefits Transfer research, and presents policy considerations in the program's future expansion.

Are Front of Pack Claims Indicators of Nutrition Quality? Evidence from 2 Product Categories.

American grocery shoppers face an array of front of pack (FOP) nutrition and health claims when making food selections. Such systems have been categorized as summary or nutrient specific. Either type should help consumers make judgments about the nutrition quality of a product. This research tests if the type or quantity of FOP claims are indeed good indicators of objective nutrition quality. Claim and nutrition information from more than 2200 breakfast cereals and prepared meals launched between 2006 and 2010 were analyzed using binary and multinomial logistic regression models. Results suggest that no type or number of front of pack claims could distinguish "healthy" foods. However, some types and frequencies of FOP claims were significant predictors of higher or lower levels of certain key nutrients. Given the complex and crowded label environment in which these FOP claims reside, one may be concerned that such cues are not closely related to objective measures of nutrition quality.

Changes in fat contents of US snack foods in response to mandatory trans fat labelling.

OBJECTIVE: Impact of mandatory trans fat labelling on US snack food introductions is examined. DESIGN: Using label information, lipid ingredients and fat profiles are compared pre- and post-labelling. SETTING: Key products in the US snack food industry contribute significant amounts of artificial trans fat. Industry efforts to reformulate products to lower trans fat may alter the overall fat profile, in particular saturates. SUBJECTS: Composition data for more than 5000 chip and cookie products introduced for sale between 2001 (pre-labelling) and 2009 (post-labelling) were analysed. RESULTS: One-way ANOVA was used to test for significant changes in saturated fat content per serving and the ratio of saturated to total fat. The shares of chip and cookie introductions containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oil declined by 45 and 42 percentage points, respectively. In cookies, there was an increase of 0·49 (98 % CI 0·01, 0·98) g in the average saturated fat content per 30 g serving and an increase of 9 (98 % CI 3, 15) % in the average ratio of saturated to total fat. No statistically significant changes in fat content were observed in chips. CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests that, holding other factors constant, the policy has resulted in a decreased use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in chip products without a corresponding increase in saturated fat content, but led to significantly higher levels of saturated fat and ratio of saturated fat to total fat in cookie products.

Childhood obesity and schools: evidence from the national survey of children's health.

BACKGROUND: The international prevalence of childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases has received increasing attention. Applying data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we explore relationships between childhood obesity and school type, National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) eligibility, membership in sports clubs and other sociodemographic, and household factors. METHODS: Nonlinear regression models with interaction terms were developed to investigate the effects of school type, physical activity, and NSLP/SBP, etc, on children's body mass index (BMI). Probit models then examine the probability of a child being overweight. RESULTS: Though clinically small, statistically significant effects on BMI were found for children from households eligible for the NSLP/SBP, attending public schools. They have a mean BMI value 0.401 higher than counterparts attending private schools (p < .05). If the child both attends public school and is eligible for the NSLP/SBP, then his or her BMI is 0.725 higher (p < .001). Children taking part in the NSLP or SBP have a 4.5% higher probability of being overweight (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of household socioeconomic status, children attending public schools have higher BMI than those attending private schools. Eligibility for free or reduced-cost lunch or breakfast programs at public schools is positively correlated with children's BMI. Children attending public schools are more likely to be overweight. In lower socioeconomic status households, school type does not have a significant effect on the probability of being overweight. Policy recommendations for factors to address childhood obesity are discussed.

Dissecting qualified health claims: evidence from experimental studies.

This paper reviews recent consumer studies evaluating comprehension of a novel form of food labeling, qualified health claims, now permitted by FDA. The joint goals of qualified health claims are to encourage firms to make accurate, science-based claims about the health benefits of their products while helping consumers prevent disease and improve their health through sound dietary decisions using enhanced nutrition information. This paper examines whether consumers can differentiate between multiple levels of health claims and determines if a front label visual aid helps consumer understanding. Results of experimental consumer attitude studies are presented which suggest that people do not perceive significant differences between the three levels of qualified claims and traditional (unqualified or SSA) health claims. An additional experiment suggests that a visual aid (report card) may be an important device to help consumers distinguish between the levels of health claims. However, thought-listing data suggests that consumers use the report card to draw inferences about overall product quality rather than the strength of scientific evidence supporting the health claim. Implications of these findings for the future regulatory oversight and marketing of functional food products are discussed.

Voluntary vs. mandatory approaches to food safety: considering heterogeneous firms.

A critical assessment of voluntary approaches in regulatory programs is presented. When accounting for heterogeneous firms, with varying effectiveness of risk control, the optimality of a lump-sum financial incentive to encourage voluntary adoption is questioned. The paper uses a game-theoretic model to characterize the strategies of a regulator and firms. Using robust comparative statics, it can be shown that less efficient firms are less likely to participate in a voluntary food safety program. Adverse selection leads to lower overall risk control, suggesting mandatory control may be preferred.