Do firms leverage the FDA nutrient label rounding rules to generate favorable nutrition fact panels or health claims?

B-Tier
Journal: Food Policy
Year: 2020
Volume: 91
Issue: C

Authors (3)

Wright, Melissa A. (not in RePEc) Beatty, Timothy K.M. (University of California-Davis) Chouinard, Hayley H. (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

The increasing incidence of nutrition related health concerns has made food labeling an important policy issue. Previous work suggests the importance of communicating nutrition information to consumers through product packaging. This paper investigates the role of labeling guidelines, which allow the rounding of calorie and nutrient levels on nutrition fact panels and affects front of package claims. We examine ready-to-eat cereal products as a bundle of nutrient attributes, and estimate the likelihood and magnitude of the rounding of specific nutrients and calories. We find systematic rounding, both up and down, of several nutrients, which affects allowable health claims and may influence consumer product choice and health outcomes.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jfpoli:v:91:y:2020:i:c:s0306919219306293
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24